


Stuck at Seventeen

by xxdrarryrebellexx



Category: Deadpool - All Media Types, Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man - All Media Types, Spider-Man/Deadpool - Joe Kelly (Comics)
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Alternate Universe - High School, Deadpool being Deadpool, F/M, I Don't Even Know, Identity Reveal, M/M, My First Work in This Fandom, Secret Identity, Spideypool - Freeform, Tags Are Hard
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-27
Updated: 2019-01-21
Packaged: 2019-09-01 05:00:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 17
Words: 23,681
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16758424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xxdrarryrebellexx/pseuds/xxdrarryrebellexx
Summary: [Teen Deadpool x Spiderman]"He isn't shrinking," the doctor said almost immediately before shaking his head. "Well he is, but that's not the main issue. He's de-aging. Literally getting younger."





	1. Mr. Dad, Meet Deadpool

It was probably a bad idea to be here. He was almost sure of that when he heard Mr. Stark groan and make his way towards the infirmary rooms. Spiderman looked back at the groaning masked man, missing the left half of his body, on the table then rushed out to guard the door and stall his mentor.

"Listen, Pete, this whole thing you're doing right now is suspicious," Tony said, trying to stay calm and rubbing a hand down his seemingly tired face. Then he caught sight of the kid. "For fucks- Kid, you have to tell people when you're hurt. I know you heal fast, but something could be-"

Peter Parker was a bright kid, okay. He was practically a prodigy but he could not figure out _for_ _the_ _life_ _of_ _him_ why Mr. Stark would think he was hurt. Then he noticed all the blood on his suit. His eyes widened comically behind his mask as he shook his head and motioned down at himself, cutting off the lecture Mr. Stark was surely trying to give him.

"I'm not- it's just- this isn't my blood!" he finally stuttered out.

"Not your-"

"I know you don't like people this deep in the tower, but my friend was hurt while we were on patrol and I didn't know where else to go so I brought him here, but-"

Tony stepped around him, and pushed into the room, not even bothering to ask why Peter was even still wearing his mask.

"Holy shit, you're Tony Stark," Deadpool said sitting up excitably and peeking over Tony's shoulder to stare at Spiderman. "Webs you didn't tell me you knew Tony Stark. Does that mean you're an Avenger too? I'm dating an Avenger, just wait till my therapist finds out."

"Dating!?" Mr. Stark said out loud, much too loud for Peter who was still recovering from whatever bomb had blown half of DP to bits. He shakes his head viciously.

"Ignore him, that's what I usually do."

"Sweets, you couldn't ignore me if you tried." Even with his mask on, Peter could tell the other man was grinning.

"He likes to follow me around," Peter felt it important to stress that they weren't together. He was still trying to ask MJ out on a date in a way that didn't come across as two friends just hanging out. He was still in high school, he couldn't just date a superhero. Or whatever Deadpool was. "We don't even know each other's identities we just patrol together sometimes."

"Webs, we're like soulmates!"

Peter was blushing under the mask but shook his head nonetheless.

"He's kidding," Peter clarified, "He's married to like the Goddess of the Underworld or something."

Tony was nodding, but he still had his eyes narrowed at the slowly regenerating man in front of him, that was giddily looking between them. He pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Is there a reason he looks like he merged with a baby alive?"

"There was a bomb just off of 164th, near the hospital," Peter said mumbling.

"I told you I'm fine, Webs. You couldn't have known," Deadpool said in that way that told Peter he was most definitely grinning."Anything for the love of my life, eh?"

"Stop saying things like that. I should have known better. There was a bomb and I didn't sense anything and then he-" Peter looked away from both of the men in front of him. "He stepped on it, but he said not to take him inside the hospital."

"Crazy ex," Deadpool said through a groan and gritted teeth as his arm went through another growth spurt. "Wouldn't have been pretty."

Peter snorted.

"I'll have Happy send someone out to check the rest of the area," Tony said, not taking his eyes off of the man on his exam table. "Underoos, go wait in the hall."

"But, Mr. Stark, I-"

"The hall."

" _Fi~ne_."

Peter wanted to say that the meeting went pretty good, considering DP was only growing back an arm and a leg and not- well, everything else, but also he was sitting in the hallway trying his hardest to listen in on whatever Mr. Stark was saying to the man that saved his life.

"I know who you are," Tony said looking at the guy in the mask very seriously. "I know what you do. What you get paid to do. I don't know why you're bothering Spiderman, but you're going to leave him alone, do I make myself clear."

"If I wanted to kill Spidey," started Deadpool calmly, as though contemplating people's murder was what one did on a regular basis, "I wouldn't have been so eager to step on that bomb. Or maybe I would have ended him last week when we were sparring on the roof. Or maybe the week before that when he arrested one of my marks before I could kill them." He shrugged, that playful tone back in his voice. "Besides, we take care of each other." He wiggled his unequal hands around them at the infirmary where Spiderman had indeed dragged him for the most part, at 1 in the morning.

Tony was angry, but he couldn't find anything wrong with what the masked mercenary had said. If he had really been around Peter as often as he said, why hadn't he off-ed him yet. That was his _job_ , as far as Tony knew. It just didn't make sense.

It took almost a month of Peter, fully suited as Spiderman, bringing Deadpool around to the tower to meet some of the other residents for Stark to realize that pretty much nothing Deadpool did made any sense at all.

"DP, stop throwing knives at the walls!" Peter said fully suited, flinging himself off the couch and redirecting the sharp projectiles towards the seat he had previously occupied.

"Tell the walls to stop talking," Deadpool said petulantly."I have enough voices in my head I don't need MONDAY or whoever else knocking around in there."

"FRIDAY," Peter corrected with a tired sigh.

"Exactly," Deadpool agreed and not for the first time, Peter considered just sending the older leather wearing crime fighter home. Maybe then he could take his mask off and grab a nap. The other man had been checking him out more and more recently and it was so _obvious_ that he wanted to scream that he was still only a kid for God's sake, but DP didn't know that. He was sure that if he did he would apologize for being such a creep. Spiderman _had_ met his daughter after all... It wasn't that Peter was unfamiliar with liking guys, it was just awkward considering Deadpool was probably so much older and more experienced than him. He looked over at Deadpool and spoke quieter than he initially meant to.

"Uh, DP?"

"Yes, my love, my heart, protector of my city and my loins?" replied the man from one of the armchairs in the main sitting area, with his feet propped up on one side of the armrest and one arm hanging off the edge.

"Could you- uh- maybe stop saying stuff like that...and- er...staring at me so much? On missions and patrols and stuff?"

"Oh, does it bother you?" he said tense. His mask was halfway up his face so he could shove chips into his mouth, but he was only focused on Spiderman now.

"Sorta," he said raising his shoulders until he was almost hiding behind his own muscular yet lean and lanky frame. "Just makes me a little uncomfortable."

"Oh, well sorry my sexuality makes you uncomfortable," Deadpool said sitting up with pursed lips and clenched fists, chips long forgotten.

"No, Dee, that's not- I just uh...You're married and I'm with someone right now, ya know? It's just-"

"Yeah, okay," Deadpool said, though Peter isn't sure he buys the lie. They drop the subject and the Merc with the Mouth doesn't make anything in the realm of a flirtatious joke or innuendo before he leaves 20 minutes later, but the mood has clearly changed. Peter doesn't know how to fix it, even as DP jumps out the window from the 39th floor, breaking almost everyone bone in his body but still getting up to limp off into the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im doing this as more of a mix of the spiderman/deadpool comics and the DP & MCU variations of those characters (cause they were my favorite iterations of the characters live action)
> 
> Deadpool isn't a pedo & he would never be, he knows what it feels like on the other side of unwanted or unwarranted affections
> 
> this is clarification that he just has a bit of a role model crush on Spiderman, cause he's out here risking his life in the streets and doing what's right because he just feel like it's the right thing to do not because he's getting paid like some of us *cough* DP *cough*
> 
> and if you haven't you should totally check out the comics, because that's how i ended up on this ship


	2. An Entrance Fit for Deadpool

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> peter does a dumb thing ✔️  
> obligatory SI field trip ✔️
> 
> check & checkerinO

It wasn't any of Peter's business that Deadpool was never around anymore. He was an adult, surely he had other things to do besides hang around with a high schooler. Peter was absently scratching equations onto his desk. He was still trying to figure out why the red-leathered mercenary was ignoring him, but came up with nothing. It'd been weeks of patrolling by himself. Deadpool would have usually gotten over something like this by now. He thought about calling him briefly just to see if he was off on a job or otherwise occupied.

"Peter!" yelled Mr. Harrington finally drawing the boy's attention away from the chemical equations scribbled over his notebook for a new web fluid.

"Yes, sir?" he asked somewhat sheepishly at being called out.

"I thought, as an intern for Stark Industries, you could point out some of the finer points of a tour of the re-opened Avengers Tower."

Peter stumbled through a couple of thoughts before mentioning all the people who worked there and the amazing work they got to do. He cleared his throat before mentioning how Mr. Stark usually stayed upstate now anyway and as his personal intern he didn't actually know too much about the tower. Which was mostly the truth. Even he was excited about this tour. He had only really seen the Avengers quarters, Mr. Stark's lab and the infirmary before now.

"That's good information, luckily we will only be there long enough for the Stark Expo so we won't interupt any of the busy interns. Here are the permission slips, due by Friday!" He handed a stack of papers to Abraham with a nod. "Grab one and pass'em back." He returned to the front of the room to get started on a lecture before the final bell rang and Peter had just enough time to grab a permission slip and continue sulking over his missing friend.

If he could even call him that.

"Hey, Peter," said Ned coming up beside him, "you okay?"

"Yeah," he told his friend, "of course. Why wouldn't I be?"

"You just seemed sorta spacey back there," Ned responded with a shrug before looking at him directly once they stopped at the lockers. "Is this, you know, a spider-man thing?"

Peter shook his head, because it wasn't, it was a Deadpool thing and those were completely different.

Ned let it go, but by the time Friday rolled around, he was excited for the trip while still looking worriedly at Peter who had admittedly been a bit of a space-case all week.

The permission slips were taken up just as the students were boarding the school bus heading further into town. Peter isn't as nervous about this trip as he felt he would be normally, but he was a senior now. He had other things to worry about. Like whether or not Deadpool was avoiding him on purpose. He had called the other man at least three times over the course of the week, getting sent straight to voice mail. A low growl left his throat just thinking about it. Ned gave him a look but he merely shook his head before taking a deep breath to calm himself.

Deadpool was fine. _They_ were fine. He was just...busy. Peter nodded to himself, tapping his fingers on his book bag straps as everyone stepped off of the bus and were led into Avengers tower.

A tour guide met them in the lobby calling each of their names for them to step forward and grab their guest Expo passes. When Flash's name is called, he pushes past Peter with his head held back and his chest puffed out as if he had won an award. Peter took this time to pull his own pass from his bag. Happy wasn't too pleased when people lost their badges. He distinctly remembers having to scour the better part of Queens and the surrounding areas to find one of his bookbags webbed to the wall with his pass in it.

"Please do not lose your pass, you will not get a new one. There are 3 main levels and 10 clearance levels. If you would look at your pass, you will see that you all are Guests, clearance level 2. This means you are here for a tour or special event. My badge," she said holding it up, "is Beta, clearance level 5. The avengers, Pepper Potts and personal friends and interns of Tony Stark are all Alpha, with clearance levels of 6 or higher. Only Pepper Potts has full level 10 clearance. This allows her into the penthouse as well as his personal lab and study. If there are no questions-"

"Actually, miss," Flash says, an annoyingly evil smirk on his face, "but I don't rememeber hearing you call Parker's name." Peter huffs a breath, but he's been dealing with the boy long enough that he isn't too bothered by the unnecessary attention.

"What was the name again?" she asked, looking down at her clipboard going through the list of students on this particular trip.

"Penis- I mean, _Peter_ Parker, ma'am," Flash says still grinning. She nodded while looking down and finding the name.

"That would be my mistake. I can have one made but-" she said checking her watch and leading everyone, bar Peter, towards the elevator. He sighs again before grabbing the lanyard around his neck to show it to her, stopping her from leading everyone else away.

"I already have a pass ma'am."

She stepped closer, eying him wearily, before looking down at his badge.

"That," she started with furrowed eyebrows, "is not a guest pass. Is this supposed to be some kind of joke?"

"No ma'am, I'm an-"

"I assume you think this is funny? Here at Stark Industries we take things very seriously and I assure you that-" she shook her head then held her hand out. "Give me your pass. I'm going to have to scan it."

"That's really not necessary," Peter said with his head down.

"Give me that pass now, young man!"

Peter closed his eyes before pulling the lanyard over his head and handing his badge to the tour guide who marched over to the entry scanner and placed the barcode against a flashing red light.

**Peter Parker. Alpha. Clearance level 10. Welcome back, Peter**.

Once the buildings interface finished speaking out his credentials the woman handed back his pass gently before clearing her throat.

"Now that that's...uh settled, my name is Kathryn and I'm going to be your guide for the rest of the afternoon. If you have any questions you can come to me," she spoke with a smile, but her skeptical look never left Peter.

"S'gonna be a long day," he groaned to himself as she continued her tour spiel.

"Welcome to the repurposed Avengers Tower under the hero and technological research sector of Stark Industries. Today you all will be attending the Stark Expo where everyday people, like you, are given an inside look at the newest technological advancements of the year. The Expo is taking place just below both Mr. Stark and the Avengers' housing areas, because as I hope you all know, the 10 floors just below that is the Technological Research and Development. Now if you would please follow me."

She lead the group successfully over to the elevator before scanning her pass and pressing the button for floor one of Techno R&D before smiling as she watched the students stare down at the city out of the glass elevator walls in awe. 

The doors chimed as they slid apart, revealing a large room with an open floor plan, robots and tools and computers and bits of motherboards scattered around on long stainless steel work tables. There were people in welding gear and lab coats all bustling around the different areas.

Kathryn led them through the room and into the next, explaining what each technician did on a typical day and how Expo days were different, until they reached another elevator. This time she took a deep breath before swiping her badge, and speaking as clearly as she could through the microphone above the scanner to let them up to the Expo. The doors slid open in front of them and once the students had stepped on it slid closed again. She released the breath she had barely realized she was holding. The breath everyone seemed to be holding as they sped further upwards. There was no chime, but instead a steady computer voice that spoke once the doors hissed open.

**Welcome to the Stark Expo. Please be careful of the machinery around you, they are not toys. Enjoy your stay.**

Once they were given the go-ahead, the students shot off in different directions to examine the different technological innovations that was place about the room. Peter ran a hand through his hair, relieved. Then he caught sight of Mr. Stark or more accurately Tony caught sight of _him_.

"Underoos. Ned." He looked at both boys in turn, his blazer over a button-up shirt for once, even if he was still wearing sneakers. "Shouldn't you be at school?"

"Field trip," Peter said by way of explanation.

"To the Expo," Ned agreed nodding his head as quickly as possible. He'd been to the tower with Peter more than a few times over the last few years, but Tony had made sure to give the two boys time to hang out wheneber he did, so he hadn't quite gotten over being starstruck.

"That's why May called," Tony said hitting his forehead with his palm before running his hand down his face then shrugging off the surprise and concern. "Alright, I can work with this. Pete, I have some people I would like for you to meet. I brought up one of your projects from lab and they absolutely love it."

"Mr. Stark, I can't just- I'm not even dressed for that."

Tony looked down at the boy in front of him, slumming in a pair of jeans, a Stark Industries hooded sweatshirt and dirty old trainers.

"It'll have to do." He gripped Peter's shoulder and led him over to his colleagues. "Nice seeing you again, Ned."

"Mr. Stark, do we have to do this? My class is here." Peter knew he was whining, but he couldn't really help it.

"Someone has to entertain them, while I go present my newest tech." Before Peter can say anything else, he is shown to a group of investors as Tony made his way up to a stage and podium where a machine is spinning and beeping elegantly. Without another thought, he smiles and introduces himself to the men in front of him. If it wasn't important, Mr. Stark wouldn't have brought him over to the men.

He would remember seeing the flash of red outside of the window later, but as it was, he watched in awe as Tony Stark unveiled his newest tech, nano-cells. Depending on the environment and the person they attach to, they can heal almost any physical injury, outward or internally.

Tony stood on stage with a confidence almost unprecedented as he discussed how the idea had come from one of his suit designs and how he had thought it would be a great for people who had lost skin or limbs due to burns or other accidents. The nanites would help speed up the healing process.

As if hearing the word victim was enough, all the windows around the floor shattered from the presence of gun power and- 

"Deadpool?" asked Peter in awe, before his spidey senses forced him into motion, pushing the men around him out of the way into the hands of the security guards, helping everyone out of the building via the stairs.

Deadpool landed in front of him with his gun aimed slightly past Peter's head and the boy had only a moment to think he could save whoever it was behind him before he thought better of it.

"Don't try to be a hero, kid," Deadpool said, his voice firm and unwavering. Peter would have laughed if he hadn't seen the way Deadpool's finger twitched on the trigger. He dived at him without another thought.


	3. Staying at Stark Industries

The shot that rang out was frightening, but it didn't hit anyone and Peter was glad for small victories.

"Deadpool!" he said probably a tad happier than he should have when the man was still fully loaded and angry about missing a shot. He stood up, pulling the older man up with him, but somehow he couldn't drop the grin from his face. DP was safe. He was here. He was still angry. Peter took a step back sheepishly.

"Kid, didn't I say _don't_ be a hero. I think I specified that you shouldn't be a hero. And what did you do, huh?" He had both of his hands on his hips as he stood there with his head tilted to the side. "Something heroic!"

"Where've you been?" Peter said mostly ignoring the lecture the man tried to give him.

"Where've I- Do I know you?" Deadpool said leaning in closer until their noses were practically touching. Peter blushed but shook his head quickly.

"No, but you and uh- Spiderman, you guys are friends, right? You guys patrol together. A package deal."

"Did he say that? A package deal?"

"Why wouldn't he?" Peter said hedging, still blushing.

"Creative differences," the man shrugged off, holstering one of his guns, but shooting the other while Peter was still occupied, luckily it rang as it ricochet off of Tony's suit. As it made its way across the room back towards the table full of technological advanced chemicals, Peter ran off to change. Wearing his suit under his clothes was easy enough to hide. When he swung back into the room, Deadpool grabbed his arm and forced him out of the way of a now frantically shooting lazer.

"A little warning before you slam me into a wall next time, DP," whines a trapped Spiderman as Deadpool tries to protect him from flying shrapnel and violet rays.

"Relationships need spontaneity, Webs. It's how we keep the spark alive when we're old."

"Deadpool, what the fu-"

"I don't think this story has the rating for you to say that," Deadpool said, covering the mouth area of Spiderman's suit.

"What're you talking about? Why are you even here? You've been MIA for weeks and now you come back to what, destroy Mr. Stark's expo?" Spiderman said, finally allowing himself to get angry now that he can see that the goofy man was alive. That he really was okay. That he wasn't avoiding him, he was just working.

Deadpool only shrugged.

"Been busy."

"Yeah, okay."

"Don't tell me you missed me?" Somehow, Spiderman knew Deadpool had an eyebrow raised in challenge under that blood chemical splattered mask. He shrugged and looked away.

"We're a package deal, ya know?"

An explosion echoed behind them and Deadpool threw himself onto Spiderman, knocking then both to the ground. The whir of metal above them pulled them apart.

"I'm only going to tell you once to get off my kid," Tony said, the Iron Man armor sliding easily away from his face as he aimed a blaster at the red menace in front of him.

"Is this a daddy-kink thing?"

"Don't be gross, DP," Spiderman said, shoving at the man's shoulder.

"It's part of my charm, don't'cha think?" he said, rolling off of him anyway.

There was another explosion somewhere and Spiderman felt his senses go haywire, he screamed for Tony, but before he could jump up to save him or even shoot a web in that direction, Deadpool had already pushed the other man out of the way, taking the brunt of the damage. Trapped in the lazers ready until it finally exploded, shooting more shrapnel across the room.

He didn't scream, but Peter knew he wanted to. It was in the way he clenched his fists and didn't say a word. Didn't make a joke.

"Deadpool!" Spiderman screamed for him, running over and kneeling at the side of his body. "DP, can you hear me? Are you okay?" He didn't answer and that's what made Spiderman pick him up and carry him down to the infirmary, Mr. Stark's anger be damned.

It wasn't hard to drag him there, Peter was more than strong enough, but once he had Deadpool laid on the table he felt so tired. So _defeated_. Deadpool looked no worse for wear, but he was so quiet, it was unsettling. Peter wouldnt say he knew Deadpool, he doesn't know if anyone did, but he knew enough about the guys personality to know this wasn't okay.

"What do you even know about him," Tony asked as he paced around the room. "Sure you two go on patrols together, but he's still a mercenary. He works for money, not because it makes his heart flutter."

"I- _dont you think I know that Mr. Stark_? But he's my _friend_. It's hard patrolling alone and sometimes it gets boring or something hurts and he's there you know? He protects me. We protect each other you know but I keep _fucking_ up," Peter had thrown on a pair of sweatpants over his suit, his mask stuck haphazardly in his pocket in case Deadpool ever woke up.

"Language, Pete," Tony said, but it was more of a sigh than a command as he looked over his ward. He didn't get it and gods knew he would never understand it, but Peter cared about the scumbag lying on his table and Peter usually had a good eye for things like this. Tony stood up and placed a hand on Peter's shoulder. "I'm going to get a cup of coffee."

Peter nodded as he watched him walk out then huffed a breath.

"I'm never going near another one of your dad's inventions again," Deadpool groaned, blinking himself back into consciousness. He was lying on his back on one of the beds in the infirmary and he froze once he realized where he was. Peter rushed to force his mask back onto his head and noticing the shift, placed a hand on the man's shoulder.

"DP, you okay?"

The man in question pulled away from him roughly, throwing himself from the bed and snatching his own mask off to allow himself to breath, because it didn't seem like he was doing that all to well. Peter stepped forward, though his eyes were shut tight and his hands were covering his mask so it wouldn't record the information either.

"I'll take that as a no, then?"

"You can look, if you want," the man said through forced breath. "Doesn't matter to me."

Peter shook his head and he could have sworn Deadpool chuckled if he hadn't have been three steps from hyperventilating.

"I want you to look," he said somewhat softer.

Peter peeked one eye open, then the other before slowly moving his hands out of the way. He stepped closer again, reaching a hand out almost on instinct as if he could heal him just by touching him.

"Beautiful aren't I? Please no pictures, all public appearances must go through my agent first."

"DP, you need to-"

"Wade," he said cutting him off, breath still coming out harshly as he looked around.

"What?"

"My name. It's Wade. Wade Wilson."

"Why're you telling me, DP, I really don't think you should be-"

"I trust you with my life, Webs. Call me Wade." He stuck a hand out and Spiderman grbbed it easily, gripping it like it was all he knew how to do. A part of him wanted to rip his mask off too. To shove it in his pocket and bask in the fact that someone knew him, but then he froze, because once their hands parted, Wade was panicking again.

"Wade, I need you to breathe for me, okay? Can you tell me what's wrong?"

There was silence between them, a gritting of teeth and then: "Don't. Like. Hospitals."

"We're not in a hospital, we're still in the tower. It's the infirmary."

"Looks. Like. A hospital," he forced out, closing his eyes and putting his hands over his ears.

"Ok~ay," Spiderman said, pulling him towards the door. "Let's leave the infirmary."

"Stellar idea. Of course you're Tony Stark's son, you're a freaking genius."

"He's not my dad," Peter whined under his mask, but it made Wade laugh and that's all that mattered.


	4. Who's Behind the Mask

Later Peter will realize that it was probably his fault, being that he was the first person to touch Wade after he had been so heavily affected by whatever the hell had been released during the expo. He would think that of course Wade's cells would fix the damage on their own and adding his 17 year old radioactive-genetics would change the basic formula, but at the moment, he was patting Wade on the back as he walked him towards the lounge area closer to the penthouse. If he was smarter, he'll think later, he would have noticed that Wade's back wasn't quite as wide, that he wasn't as tall as before.

"So what? Are you in college, is that the problem with us?" Wade asked quietly, sitting on the couch and still recovering. He rubs a hand down his face, which seemed to look younger the longer Peter looked at him.

"Uh no..." Spiderman said just as quietly. "Wade, if I take my mask off-"

"No," the man said firmly, looking up at him. "I don't need to know. I trust you, I don't need to know who you are."

"That's sweet of you, really, but who the fuck-" Tony pauses, checks out the now baggy outfit even without the mask. "Deadpool. Of fucking course, you'd tell Underoos your secret identity and pull him into whatever-" he pauses when he blinks and notices that between glances Deadpool had gotten shorter. "Are you shrinking?"

Wade gasped and threw his hands over his crotch.

"It _is_ a daddy-kink thing!"

"Wade," Spiderman groaned, putting his head in his hands. "No."

"Kid get him to the infirmary, we need to-"

" _Him_ doesn't really do well in hospitals," Wade cut in.

"Fine, take him to my lab." When Wade's eyes lit up Tony put his hands over his eyes. "Just don't break anything. I'll be down in a minute."

Fortunately it was easier to get Wade to walk down to the lab then it was for him to ride the elevator up to the lounge with FRIDAY's voice surrounding them in the small space. Unfortunately it took longer than a minute for Tony to join them and when he did, he had Bruce Banner in tow.

Wade, for all he hated hospitals, seemed to have no problem with scientific professionals.

"What's up, Doc?" he asked with a challenging grin and that's when Peter started to notice what Tony had already seen. Wade was shrinking. Or disappearing. Or something equally as terrifying, Peter was sure.

"Heard you don't like hospitals?" Bruce said coming close enough to look Wade in the eyes.

"Heard you turn green when your angry."

"Mind if I run a few tests?"

"Mind if I?"

Bruce smiled at him and shrugged.

"If it'll keep you calm enough for us to do a brain scan, go for it."

Wade was laid on one of Tony's stainless steel lab tables wearing only his underpants with cords connected to his forehead and chest. His now too-big suit is thrown across one of the rolling chairs and Peter had to immediately avert his eyes or he's sure he'd have been the color of his mask. There's a set of petri dishes across the room with samples of blood and skin cells under a microscope for Tony to stare at while Bruce is submitted to Wade's incessant questioning to get him angry.

"Dr. Banner," Spidey asked, once Bruce had sat back with an awed expression, "why is Wade shrinking?"

"He isn't shrinking," the doctor said almost immediately before shaking his head. "Well he is, but that's not the main issue. He's de-aging. Literally getting younger. Although his memories are intact, his brain has regressed to be equal to that of a 20 year old."

"You sure it he hasn't always been that way," Tony snorted from across the room.

"It's not funny, Mr. Stark, what if he turns into a baby? What if he disappears!?" Peter knows he's being hysterical, but the comfort of Wade gripping his elbow worked all the same to calm him down. His worried thoughts seemed to finally shake some worry into Tony who turned back to watching the petri dishes.

It took another 3 hours and 27 minutes for Deadpool to stop getting younger. His brain had regressed to the age of a high school student, Bruce had said, probably 16 or 17, depending on his cell results. Tony confirmed the age digression, but all Peter could do, still wearing his mask, was stare at the slightly muscled teen in front of him.

"Want a picture," Wade asked with a wink and Peter knew he was only joking to cover up the fact he was uncomfortable, but he blushed all the same.

"I'll talk to your agent," Spiderman said instead and Wade huffed a laugh.

"Child pornography is illegal, Spidey.You're this close to a jail sentence already," he said holding a hand up, his fingers barely an inch apart.

Spiderman scoffed and shoved Wade's shoulder, but Tony didn't find the situation funny anymore. There were two underage heroes in his care now. Sure Wade had destroyed the expo, but it was Stark's inventions that did this to him.

"You're going to be stuck like this for a while," Tony cut in, not even bothering to ease the bandaid off.

"So you're saying you _can't_ fix this?" Wade said, his eyes narrowed at Mr. Stark. "Or you _won't_?"

"I _can_. It's just going to take some time," Tony said, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I don't know what the hell went wrong and I don't know anything about your genetic make-up even before this happened to even make a good enough guess so I have to test everything."

"So that's it?" Wade asked, "We just wait it out?"

"Basically," Spiderman agreed, but Stark was still talking ideas.

"Until everything is figured out, Wade is going to be going to school with you."

"School?" Wade said confused, looking between the still masked teen beside him and the grown man standing with crossed arms in front of him.

"Spidey," the man said with a deep breath, "Mask off. Wade is going to need help and you're the only person who can do that properly right now."

"Tony, don't you think that's a little risky," Bruce spoke up, reminding them he was still there, but Tony shook his head.

"He doesn't have to-" Wade started to agree but Tony motioned for him to shut up.

"You, zip it. Banner, he's going to need help. Someone is going to have to show him around and keep him from being the center of attention."

"Impossible," joked the young merc, "I'm naturally charming. It's hard for me not to be the center of attention."

"The kid is the only one who can do it," Tony continued, ignoring Wade's protests and turning to face Peter. "Bruce and I are going to wait in the lounge. Tell him the truth." He turned to Wade."And don't break anything."

Peter took a deep breath before reaching a hand up to tug at his mask, but Wade grabbed his hands.

"You really don't have to," he said seriously.

"What," Peter joked, trying to calm his nerves, "scared to meet your hero?" When Wade didn't laugh Peter shruged and grabbed his hands, moving them out of the way. "Mr. Stark is right, you're going to need my help."

Peeling off his mask and stuffing it back into his pocket was the easy part. The silence that followed as Wade looked at him? That was terrifying.


	5. What Next Geniuses

They stared at each other in the silence. Wade looks awe-struck, and Peter is scared out of his mind, but he refuses to look away.

"You-" the de-aged boy started before clamping his mouth shut and trying again, forcing it out in a single breath. "You're just a _kid_."

"I'm in high school," Peter rebutted petulantly, though he knows that isn't what Wade meant.

"I've seen you carry guys twice my size like a sack of potatoes. Holy fucking shit," he said, eyes even wider, backing away from the messy haired teen in front of him. "I was flirting with a goddamn kid."

"I'm not a kid-"

"That's why you said you were so uncomfortable before. I was trying to seduce you into my bed and you're what? Like 12?"

"I'm 17," Peter said, but Wade was still talking.

"I could go to jail-"

"Wade," Peter said trying to catch his attention.

"Oh God, _I'm_ a kid now-"

"Wade!" Peter tried, louder.

"What about Ellie? I can't visit her looking like this! I'm going through puberty. _Again_!"

"Deadpool!"

The guy froze, staring at him half in awe and half surprised.

"I don't even know your name," he said as if it had just dawned on him. It probably had.

"Peter Parker," said the boy in question, sticking his hand out for his friend to shake, though he never did. Peter dropped his hand and Wade narrowed his eyes at him.

"You're that kid!" he shouted, pointing frantically and stepping back even farther, if that was possible. "You made me miss the shot!"

"You're not supposed to kill people anymore. We talked about this, DP."

"It's called a job, Petey-Pie, some of us need to make a living."

"Don't call me that."

"We can't all just walk around being the friendly-neighborhood-vigilante," Wade continued without acknowledging that Peter said anything which, to be honest, was what Peter expected anyway. He shook his head and sat back down on the side of a table, waiting on Wade to stop talking.

"Are you done?" Peter asked, his head propped in one of his hands as he watched Wade dramatically throw his hands in the air.

"I've been to jail, Webs, and it ain't all roses and orange jumpsuits."

"The name's Peter," he said with a roll of his eyes, pushing himself off the table and heading towards the door of the lab. "C'mon, you need clothes and a place to stay and Mr. Stark is not going to let you stay here."

"Stark loves me," Wade said just for the sake of argument.

"Of course he does, DP," Peter said, shaking his head as they made their way upstairs and down the hall to the sitting room.

"All good," Tony asked one he caught sight of them maskless and Peter nodded.

"So," he asked, "whats the plan, Mr. Stark?"

"You know enough about explosions to at least pass as a chemistry student, don't you, Wilson?" Tony said, not really answering Peter's question with a question directed at Wade.

"I mean, I know how to blow things up and how not to get blown up and I can make a few kitchen bombs and you should smell my bathroom on Taco Tuesdays-"

"Good enough." He pinched the bridge of his nose. "I can have him put in at Midtown Tech as a transfer student under my watch and scholarship. As my intern," Tony said turning to face the younger boy, "you are to keep an eye on him. Keep him out of trouble until we can figure all this out, okay?"

"Sure, but what about- can I just tell Ned what's going on?" Peter said confused, but Tony didn't dignify his question with a response. He turned back towards Wade. Stepping closer and poking him in the chest with each step.

"And if you put one toe out of line-"

"Sorry, what?" Wade said blinking up at Tony. He shook his head, pointing one finger at it. "I was here, but not really here. What about my toes?"

"Where's he supposed to stay?"

"I've already called your aunt. Well Pepper called. May still hates me for not answering the phone yesterday and, I quote, _'putting you in danger'_ as if you don't do that yourself."

His look was stern and Peter, 17 though he may be, crumbled like a child under that gaze. He never tried to get himself in trouble. It wasn't his fault he had that dumb Parker Luck. He sighed and grabbed Wade's arm, but freezing when the boy didn't move with him.

"Wade, we have to go. What're you-"

"I- Do I-" Wade rubbed a hand across his usually bald head, but there were tufts of dirty blonde hair sprouting out. "Pete, do I have hair?"

"Yeah," Peter said staring wide eyed at him. "Yeah, you do."

Tony and Bruce, both equally confused and surprised looked at each other before Tony had the sense to push the boys out of the room and towards the elevator. The ride down was silent and he insisted on taking them to Queens himself.

"I missed you, DP," Peter said quietly in the backseat of Tony's car. "Patrols have gotten quiet without your endless commentary."

"Of course you have. No one is as much fun as me," Wade said absently. He had one hand on his head, still tugging at the tufts of hair as if they were just going to fall out at any moment. He groaned and placed the other hand across his forehead.

"You okay?"

"Voices," he said by way of explanation. "Just loud."

Peter nodded, and they didn't talk again until they were in Peter and May's apartment, listening to Tony explain the situation to her as best as he could. When she sends them to bed Peter thinks of it as a small victory but Wade still isn't talking. Peter knows how different Spidey is from himself, but he had gotten the impression that Wade and Deadpool were just an extension of one another so the silence was driving him wild.

"Deadpool," Peter whispered from his place on the top-bunk, "You're silence is worrying. I actually like it when you talk. What's going on?"

"I'm peachy keen. Everything is readjusting, but it's good to know someone likes it when I-" Wade started before he ended up focusing on what the other boy said and spoke again before he could think to stop himself. He blamed the days 'trauma' for his delayed response time. "You keep calling me DP or Deadpool." He shakes his head. "But that's not who I am all the time, you know. That guy...he's different. It's best to keep some distance."

"I get it. Me and Spider-Man are on completely different levels. And for the record, Wade, Deadpool, whichever, I think both of you are pretty great," Peter said before rolling over, pulling the covers up further. "G'night."

"Night, Petey-Pie," said Wade after a moment or two of basking in the silence. Even yellow and white seemed to be soothed by Peter's sleep-adled voice. It was easier for him like this, not having to see Peter. Being able to still believe he was only Spiderman. Strong and smart and sassy and not a fucking _17-year-old kid._

To believe that he wasn't a fucking 17-year-old kid too. He groaned into the pillow. Hoping sleep would take him away before Yellow and White reappeared.


	6. Hell's Kitchen Cooks a Mean Pancake

[White Box] **[Yellow Box]**

_**The Night Before the Expo** _

Wade was sure he couldn't actually be in love with Spiderman even before the whole 'You-Make-Me-Uncomfortable' incident, as he was calling it.

[Can you really blame him? You're a mess.]

**[Don't listen to him, a good un-aliving spree will clear your head. It always does.]**

He was sitting on top of one of four short apartment complexes in Hell's Kitchen, spinning a gun around on his finger while his feet kicked idly at one of the fire escapes below him.

"We promised Spidey not to un-alive anyone," he groaned at White and Yellow, flopping backwards onto the building, hard. He thinks he may have cracked a vertebrae, but he'll only know if he tries to- he groaned. Yeah, it's cracked.

[Great job, genius.]

**[Not like Spidey wants anything to do with us anymore.]**

"He just needs time," Wade assured himself and the boxes before dropping his head into his hands, the guns handle digging into his forehead. "I don't blame him. He's seen the scars, he doesn't want anything to do with me. Who would?"

"Is this the part where you expect someone to disagree with you," came a rumbly voice. Deadpool turned around to see a man in red suits with horns on his head.

"Are those horns on your head, or are you just happy to see me?" He had his mask on, but even so, he sent a huge grin to the man behind him.

"They're horns. Do you have a job here?" The man seemed leary to get any closer than he had to and Deadpool couldn't blame him.

"Nope," he said popping the p, just wanted to get away from someone.

"A bad someone?"

"Okay, what is with the third degree? A friend of mine- well a person I know, is busy and I don't think they want me around."

"I know who you are, what you do."

Deadpool turned around excited.

"So you are excited to see me?" He hopped up and threw an arm around the other man's shoulders. "Does this mean we're besties? I'm Pool, Deadpool. I like mexican food, long walks on the beach and cutting the heads off of bad guys." He poked at one of the mans horns. "And you are..."

"They call me Daredevil."

"Oh, right! The devil of Hell's Kitchen. Love the name. Love the moniker. Love the rep."

"I have a rep? What as a vigilante?"

"Obviously, but from one wanted vigilante to another, this city couldn't function without you or Spider-babe swinging around."

"Is that what this is then, you're pouting?" Daredevil didn't look too interested in the conversation, he still had his head titlted away, listening for something happening on the streets, but he didn't look like he was in any hurry to move, and really that's all Deadpool need to pull him down to sit next to him on the edge.

"Not pouting exactly but-" He shook his head.

**[Maybe if he feels bad for us, he'll sleep with us. I vote for sleeping with Mr. Horny!]**

[Talking things through is a good way of getting a new perspective.]

**[Perspective-Shmerspective. Have you seen those arms? He could show us his guns any time.]**

"I thought Spidey and I were getting closer you know, thought I was finally in. He took me to hang out with some of his Avenger buddies..." he shrugged."I don't know. I just screwed up again."

"Is this a confession?" the other man asked and Deadpool shrugged against him.

"Forgive me, father, for I have sinned," he joked.

"I'm not a priest," Daredevil said with a self-deprecating smile. Deadpool shrugged again, flapping his hand as if to shoo the thought away.

"And I'm not Catholic."

Daredevil smiled again, but Deadpool doesn't notice before taking a deep breath a d spilling his metaphorical guts. He spent the next hour and a half of his patrol telling Daredevil the story. Him and Spidey and the working together and the admiration and the flirting. Daredevil didn't move or snatch away or say anything about how Deadpool is a known flirt and how he'd probably fuck anything that'd walk his way, he just nodded and pat his shoulder when he offered apologies. When he wad done Deadpool felt lkke they actually _were_ friends. No one ever cared enough to talk to him or listen to him but Spidey.

"You're a really good listener, Mr. Horny. Does this mean we're really besties?"

Daredevil tilted his head, as if appraising the man beside him, but his face was still facing the alleyway beneath them. 

"You need a lot of help, but you're a good guy, Deadpool. Maybe Spiderman just needs time."

Deadpool flopped back against the roof again before his watch goes off. He looked down, almost jumping out of his skin when he saw what time it was.

"Holy mother of chalupas! I have to go. My carriage is gonna be a pumpkin soon." He turned to tell Daredevil 'thank you' or 'you rock' or _something_ , but he was gone. He stood up and slid down the ladders of the fire escape as fast as possible# pulling his phone out to call for a driver as he ran down the street and waved for the few empty taxis rolling around at 7 in the morning. "Gotta catch Ellie before school. I promised her breakfast. Terry _let_ me promise her breakfast. Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck. Where's Spidey when you need him!?"

He made it to a cab and caught a ride a few streets away from where Ellie lived. Once he made it there and the cab pulled away, he flung himself over hedges and fences and playhouses before finally making it to the kitchen door of Emily and Terry's house. He changed into the sweats he kept in the bushes, mask still on as he knocked om the door, rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet. When the door finally opened, Ellie was there, dressed for school, but still rubbing sleep from her eyes.

"Hello mi amor," he said stepping through the open door and pulling her into a hug, lifting her off the ground. The young girl laughed.

"Hi, papa!" She was grinning wide, as if she hadn't thought he would make it. He looked over at the time, noticng it was almost 7:30 as he pulled off his mask, laying it on the counter. "You made it!"

"Of course I did. Now, let's get some pancakes in you, before you implode!"

She laughed again moving over to help him find and mix the batter. When Wade looked up to see Terry at the door, Ellie's adopted dad smiled small and nodded. Wade had no problem with him, but even now, retired SHIELD agents though they were, they never quite managed trusting him to do the right thing.

"Daddy, Papa's letting me help make pancakes, want one?" Ellie asked once she noticed where her dad's attention was focused. Terry shook his head but thanked her before walking back the way he came. "I'm glad you're here, Papa," she whispered and Wade leaves over to kiss her cheek.

"Glad to be here, Ellie."


	7. Living in la Casa de Peter

The phone call that came in as he waited with Ellie at the bus stop wasn't unheard of, especially after mentioning the man's name, but the money offered was more than Wade had made just patrolling without Spidey for the last few weeks. He didn't have to kill the guy. He'd thought it be an easy job. Then he was sent the address.

"You must be crazier than I am. Avengers tower is ran, locked and loaded by Stark and an all-seeing AI. There's no way I'm getting in there."

**[But we need the moneyyyyyy.]**

[Stark'll have our head before we even get two feet on the ground.]

**[Not if we're already on the ground.]**

He found out about the expo by accident and accepted the job. He made sure he would have to unalive anyone, he had promised Spider-babe he wouldn't. He promised Terry and Emily he wouldn't, if only for Ellie's sake. Eleanor Camacho was almost 7 now and small though she may be, she wasn't an idiot. Just because he had only met the girl two years prior, didn't mean _she_ didn't know who _he_ was. Unaliving people was out of the question.

**[What, do we have _morals_ now? Fan-fucking-tastic. As if you needed something else in this fucked up head to think about.]**

Deadpool shook his head as the boxes started arguing about the best way for him to make money if he was going to start pouring morals into the mix. He made his way towards the expo and everything was going well...until it wasn't. He remembered fighting a kid, then Spidey showed up, then Iron-Dick showed up. All he knew, was that he woke up in a hospital bed with a fidgeting Spidey beside him and a splitting headache. The panic set in pretty soon after.

He launched himself from the bed and he could only imagine the sight he must have made to Webs who was looking him over nervously. The resulting examination was just as fun as dying, that is to say not very. Wade tried lightening the mood, but then...

**[Webs is taking off the mask! I repeat: the mask is coming off! Prepare the spank bank.]**

[Holy fuck, don't look! He isn't decent!]

** [Holy shit biscuits he's just a kid! We're going to the slammer.] **

Wade knew he was in trouble when the boxes agreed. He tried telling himself it would be fine, he really did, but then they said he had to go to school. With Spidey- er Peter? And it would have been fine, really, but he was trying not to look at the kid. On a normal day there was practically an 11 year age gap between them and he had spent almost all his time with Spider-man ogling his ass.

He looked down at his own hands, smaller than usual, but still rough and calloused as _Peter_ pulled him through the tower towards Stark and Banner and to be quite honest the boxes, loud in his head, kept him occupied from actually paying attention. The rest of the night was a blur, but he thinks he remembered going to sleep in silence.

"Uh, Wade?" asked the boy hanging from the bed above him. He blinked a few times before everything fell bsck into place, the headache dulling as his brain finally acknowledged the sleep it had gotten.

"Webs?"

"Please just call me Peter," the boy whined and it was so familiar Wade couldn't help but smile.

"Will do, Sweet Pete."

"I knew it was too much to ask for when I opened my mouth," Peter mumbled to himself as he climbed off the bed and Wade couldn't help but laugh anyway.

"Aunt May had the early shift today so you can get adjusted to our place before she gives you the third degree. She doesn't know about the Spider-Man thing so maybe keep that to yourself too."

"Am I the only one who knows, other than Stark?" Wade asked suddenly aware that not even Banner was around when Peter's mask was off, even if he had been there before.

"My best friend, Ned, knows...but yeah, basically." Peter said shrugging. He blushed and looked away from the de-aged boy in front of him who seemed to only be stuck on the beginning of the sentence.

"I thought I was your best friend." Peter looked up as the other boy spoke, and his pout gave Peter more pause than it should have.

"You're Spider-Man's best friend. Ned was my friend before the spider bite." He stopped speaking and if Wade wasn't positive his system was clean of any and all drugs he would have been sure it was a hallucination when the small smile and dopey look crossed Peter's face when he kept talking. "I'm just glad you get to be a part of my other life too."

"That may be the sweetest thing you've ever said to me Princess Pete," Wade said leaning closer to the other boy on instinct, fluttering his eyelashes rapidly, and he realizes belatedly that it's okay now. Peter blushed but covered it up with a laugh and Wade wondered if this is what he was missing under the mask. When he remembered he isn't wearing his own mask he turns away from Peter.

"DP? Uh...I mean, Wade? Are you okay?"

"Forgot I wasn't wearing my mask," he looked down,"or a shirt. I know I look like a house of horrors."

"You look fine, Wade. Spider's honor," Peter said once he was close enough, crossing a hand over his heart as he layed the other one on Wade's bare back, pushing him forward a little. His hand was cool on Wade's skin, smooth against the rough patches that usually meant he was running hotter than usual, his body's way of constantly being rid of virus after virus. He turns to the boy behind him, grinning again.

"So touchy on the first date, I'm not that kind of girl, Petey."

"We all know what kind of girl you are. C'mon, I'm just trying to make breakfast but your blocking the door. Move."

"You could make me if you really wanted," Wade said, the realization making his heart stutter.

"Yeah, cause that's totally not one of your kinks," he challenged and Wade raised a hairless eyebrow.

"No, it totally is. Keep going." His grin is wicked, but even so, Peter lifts him off the ground and places him off to the side before heading to the kitchen.

**[Oh sweet Mary, mother of Jesus. Did he just-]**

"I know," Wade said in reverence, watching the other boy set out across the small kitchenette to throw together enough food for two super-powered teens.


	8. Naughty not Nice

Peter was standing in the kitchen mentally screaming as he made something for them to eat. It was so easy to fall back into their usual dynamic, even without the masks, and he wondered what would happen when Wade was fixed. When he was back to towering over Spiderman and making sure they both knew it.

Would they still keep up the teasing and trading quips? Would Deadpool find someone his age to patrol and flirt with, like Daredevil or Hawkeye? He knew Clint was soft on Wade, maybe it was because they were both parents and they both had trauma.

Peter doesn't know and the longer he thinks about it, the more he realizes it isn't his business. He's supposed to like MJ. He _does_ like MJ. She's funny and sarcastic and, when she finally opens up to you, she's like a brand new person. He basks in his crush for a moment before plating the food and moving over to lay it on the table. He watched as Wade ducked into the booth after shuffling back into the room to grab a shirt. Somewhere inside Peter whined at the loss of skin in his immediate line of sight.

Wade's happy moan around his fork had Peter blushing like a school girl and he decided that maybe this feeling, whatever it was, wouldn't be as easy to ignore as he thought. He hoped it would be the hardest part of the weekend. By Sunday night he was proven wrong when he was headed to the bathroom and ran into a soaking wet Wade, a towel around his waist and a relaxed expression on his face.

Peter avoided him like the plague until Monday morning when he absolutely had to help him get ready for his first day of school.

"The teachers will introduce you for the most part, I think, but try not to draw too much attention to yourself."

Wade shrugs as he fiddles with his mask, still laying on the bed.

"It'd be hard to not draw attention with this butter face, Pete."

"Shut up," Peter said shoving his arms into the sleeves of his jacket and slinging his bookbag over his shoulder, even as Wade struggles to find his other shoes. "You're not ugly, Wade."

"Sweet of you to say, Petey-Pie, but I own a mirror."

The younger boy shakes his head, because how do you explain that looking different isn't the same as being hideous? How could he stop Wade from imaging what he used to look like even as he stood there in front of Peter in a way that was practically mouth watering.

"I think you're gorgeous..." Peter mumbled, but Wade was too busy trying to fit the satchel he had gotten from Tony over his shoulder to lay more comfortably on his side.

"Did you say something?" Wade asked once he had fixed it and the room was quiet again. Peter blushed but shook his head.

"Just that uh...we should get going. Happy should be here any minute to drive us to school."

"Only the best from Iron-Daddy, eh?"

"Please never say that again."

"Not used to sharing your kinks? How delicate! How refreshing!"

Peter blushes harder and it sends Wade for a loop.

"Oh, look, she's bashful." He leaned in closer until their noses almost touched and grinned wickedly. Peter pushed him away with a chuckle.

"C'mon, Wade, let's just go." He tugged the other boy behind him with a smile as they rushed towards the door and down the stairs where Happy was indeed waiting. He hopped out to open the car door when they arrived and Peter almost mentioned how it was just him and _Deadpool_ and it took him longer to realize that although Happy knows _his_ secret, he might not know _Wade's_. Not that Wade was overly secretive, but this was like a new start for Wade, at least Peter thought so. He could almost feel the buzzing of a fresh start in the air. He snapped his mouth shut audibly and the older boy looked at him.

"Nervous to show me around your Nerd School, Petey?"

"Not as nervous as I am about the fact that you might call me that in public."

"Oh-ho-ho, I am most definitely going to call you that in public! It's adorable, you're blushing and everything." Peter blushes harder and Wade chuckles. "It's just nice to see your face."

"Yeah," Peter said slowly, once he had turned to face the boy beside him, lost in the sight of one blue and one brown eye. "Yours too."

Wade made no moves until they were finally on school grounds and he gripped Peter's forearm so tight he thought that a normal person would be holding up a broken arm. Peter nudged him softly.

"You'll be fine."

Walking through the halls rambling to Wade to get him to relax was easy. It's the same thing he did after especially tough missions when someone was kidnapped or raped and they manage to only just save them, but Deadpool still had that urge to permanently shut up the bastards that did it. Peter kept talking.

"-nd that's why I can't eat them anymore. I mean I'm not too bothered, they weren't my favorite food or anything, it's just-"

"I'm fine, Pete," Wade met his gaze with a soft smile when he was about to protest. His thin, scarred lips were chapped and peeling in some places where the constantly healing scars were here-now-gone-the-next, but Peter couldn't look away. "Thank you."

"Penis Parker!" yelled a voice from down the hall forcing him to walk faster. He was closer to the lockers when he noticed Wade had stopped and turned around.

"What did you just call him?" he asked challengingly, but the bully ignored him.

"What happened to you at the Expo, Parker? Too scared to face Iron Man with your fake intern badge? Wussed out?" Flash continued to call down at him. When he got close enough to shove Peter he did, before he was lifted off of his feet and slammed into a row of lockers.

"I don't like being ignored and I definitely don't like you talking to him like that. If you touch him again I will personally cut off all 6 fingers, your pinkies, and your thumbs and shove them up your ass, are we clear?"

He doesn't know if it was his threat or his face that scared the kid shitless, but the boy nodded and ran once he dropped him, moving his forearm off the kids windpipe.

"C'mon, DP," Peter said fondly, and he almost reminds him to call him Wade, goddammit _(he's not even wearing the frikin' mask!)_ , but he can see the softness in his eyes now, see how Peter doesn't mind that he's Deadpool if he doesn't kill anyone else, if he just works with morals, and he thinks he can do that for him. Peter notices his hesitance and freezes. "I- I'm sorry, Wade." He looks away and Wade rushes to put a hand on his shoulder.

"You can call me whatever you want, Petey-Pie." He batted his lashes, but follows when the other boy motions for him again.

"I have to go to my locker and we can meet up with Ned," he said, changing the subject. He looks over at Wade with narrowed eyes. "Be nice."

The scarred boy looks shocked, throwing one hand to his chest and the other to his head, palm facing out.

"Oh Petey, I'm hurt. I'm always nice."

"Sure you are."

"Would you be friends with me if I wasn't?"

"I'm not friends with you because you're 'nice.' If I was, I think I'd be fooling myself just a little. You're a good guy, DP,but you're not _nice_."

"I can be nice!" Wade said shocked. Standing at his full height, Peter only just now noticed the boy was still taller than him. "I'll show you. Point me in the direction of someone who needs niceness and I'm there. I will nice the fuck out of them. I'm going to be so frikin' nice they're gonna talk to their friends about me and their friends are gonna be like 'Wade? Yeah, Wade's a _nice_ guy.' Pssh, _not_ _nice_. You'll see."

Peter's laugh was loud and free and he hadn't realized how stressed he was about bring Wade to school with him until the tension finally eased from his shoulders. He pulled Wade to his locker, helping the boy shove his things in there alongside his.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> comic wade has blue eyes. ryan reynolds, does not. therefore, my wade has both.


	9. More Than a Crush

"Peter! Oh my God, dude, where were you?" Ned asksd as soon as he caught sight of the curling brown hair that topped his friend's head. "You weren't on patrols and you weren't answering the phone."

"I was just...uh busy," Peter shrugged, looking away. He was busy, that part at least wasn't a lie but he knew it wasn't the whole story either. He had hoped Ned would drop it, but he knew his friend better than that.

"Busy doing what? I thought you had died, man!"

Peter bristled slightly at his friend's tone. He knew Ned was just worried, but it made him feel guiltier than he should have been for not calling his friend over the weekend. He glanced over at Wade who looked intrigued and put him on the spot, grabbing his shoulders and moving him in front of himself like a shield.

"This is Wade," he said without any other talk of his weekend. "He just transferred here. He's uh- interning with me at Stark Industries."

"Hi Wade, I'm Ned." He turned back to Peter. "Like your science internship or the _other_ internship."

"Uh...both?"

Ned's eyes grew bigger as he started talking a mile a minute, backing Wade into a locker to ask questions. Once the merc had adjusted to the energy coming off of Peter's friend he was just as energized as before, laughing and joking and answering any question Ned had.

"Is this the guy?" Ned asked and Peter froze because it wasn't exactly _Wade_ that made him question his sexuality, but Deadpool's constant flirting and playful fondling when they were tied or webbed up together did make him think about a few things. Peter's silence was enough of an answer for Ned though, because he smiled. "It _is_! So are you two like...dating? I thought you liked MJ."

"I _do_ like MJ. Ned, stop it. Me and Wade are just...friends." He was blushing redder than a tomato, splotchy but bright, as he looked away from both of his friends.

"Yo, Parker," said Michelle Jones walking up, a book in her hand and a bag thrown over her shoulder. "Why are there three of you losers now?"

"'Cause you just walked up," Wade said in response when he noticed Peter wasn't going to. She looked at him and narrowed her eyes.

"Who said I was here at all?"

"Won't be the weirdest hallucination I've ever had, but I can usually tell the difference."

Peter snorted a laugh as that small fond smile took over his face again.

"Wade," he said softly. He shook his head and blushed even harder when he noticed that Michelle was looking at him. "Hey, MJ."

"You went MIA all weekend. We were supposed to be playing video games at Ned's remember?"

"S-something uh- came up. Sorry," he stuttered out.

"No stress. Walk me to class?" she said more than asked and he was about to just nod and agree and follow her wherever she wanted to lead him, but then he felt the static in the air as Wade's body tensed up.

"I would, but I have to show my uh- Wade around. He just transferred and I promised I give him the grand tour."

Some of the tension left Wade's shoulder but he still shook his head.

"Don't worry about it, Petey-Pie, Neddy-boy here will graciously show me around. Right, Ned?"

"Yeah, totally!" Ned agreed.

"Nice meeting you, MJ," Wade said, tugging Ned in the opposite direction, leaving Peter alone with his crush, but all he could think about was why the heck was Wade acting so weird.

"Weird friend," MJ said trying to catch his attention and he shook his head with a laugh.

"No weirder than you."

He thought it would have been awkward walking with MJ, knowing he had a crush on her yet being too shy to say anything about it, but it was easy. He spent the walk telling her about Wade and how great and brilliant and funny he is. She listened, because she's a great listener, but he doesn't notice the sad smile she gives him when he tried to describe the exact shade of blue of Wade's eye, as if she hadn't seen it.

"The light in the hall is different," he insisted. "The fluorescent lights are too artificial, it just doesn't look the same."

"Yeah, sure, Parker. You're the expert. I barely know the guy."

"I wouldn't say I'm an expert," he said not realizing how hard he was actually blushing before his eyebrows furrowed. "Wade likes to keep a lot of secrets, ya know? We're just good friends. He's there for me a lot."

Michelle nodded at him, but she's wearing that sad smile again and he can't imagine where it could have come from or what he's done wrong this time, but he doesn't ask. He thinks it'll make it worse if he shows her he doesn't know.

"You seem to really like him, Peter," she said and he looked up at the use of his name.

"Of course I do, we're friends," he responded slightly confused and she gives him that look again. "Stop looking at me like that! Did you just ask me to walk with you so you could make fun of me?"

"No, I asked you to walk with me because we're friends and I-" she looked uncomfortable for the first time Peter can remember since the Washington trip. "I know you have a crush on me. Or had, whatever. I just...I didn't want you to get your hopes up and I want you to stop acting so weird around me."

"Did I-" Peter shook his head to clear it, but it didn't really help. he can't look at her anymore. "Did I do something wrong?"

"God, Peter, you aren't always at fault. I already have a girlfriend, okay. You get why it wasn't ever really going to work out between us?"

"You-" he started, clearing his throat, each word having to fight its way through a field of _**idiots**_ and _**obviouslys**_ and _**why would she like yous**_. "You don't like guys."

"I do not," she said shaking her head. They stopped at the classroom door and she looked down at him with her motherly-protection look. The one that he's seen level teachers and bullies alike when it came to bothering the people she cared about. He thinks he felt his heart break a little at the fact that she cared about him, but not like _that_. Never like _that_. "Are you okay?"

"I didn't- I'm sorry. I shouldn't have made you uncomfortable," Peter said."If I'd-"

"Peter, it's okay. You don't have to apologize. You're still one of my best friends, right?" She was still looking at him with those caring eyes and he had to look away again or risk falling in deeper.

"Yeah," he said. "Best friends."

"Then I just want to know if you're okay," she said stepping closer, switching her book to the other hand so she can place a hand on his shoulder. He stepped backwards almost tripping over his own feet, but nodded.

"Mhmm, I'm fine. We're good. I'm good. It's-"

"Good?" she asked with a smirk and a raised eyebrow and he huffed a small laugh before nodding again a bit more calmly.

"Yeah," he said with a small sad smile of his own. "It's good."

"Good," she said with a shrug, but she sent him her hundred watt smile before walking into the classroom, holding the door open for him behind her.


	10. Feeding into the Feeling

The worst part about being dumped-but-not-really-dumped by his lesbian best friend is that Peter can't find the strength or reasoning to be even just a little upset.

On the other hand, walking into class after such an event can lead him to make terrible decisions, such as sitting between both an excitable Ned and a bored Wade.

Peter groaned into his chemistry book once he realized his mistake.

Ned looked at MJ who sat a few rows ahead of them, then over at him with a broad grin, but his face fell when he caught sight of Peter's defeated expression. Wade never even asked, just looked away as if looking at a sad Peter made him sick. Peter felt sick.

When class was over Wade grabbed his hand, tugging him to a secluded corner in the hallway, how he knew about it, Peter wouldn't know. The older boy looked him over, leaning into his space a bit.

"You okay?" Wade asked seriously and Peter smiled at him.

"I'm fine." He looked away blushing, before looking back at the scarred boy in front of him. "Thanks for worrying about me, Wade."

"Anything for you, Petey-pie. My spidey-babe deserves the best there is!

Peter blushed harder and looked away when Wade unknowingly gave him probably the softest smile known to man. It was one thing for Deadpool to say this kind of stuff to Spiderman when they were on patrol and things had quieted down. It was a whole other thing though when Peter could actually see the fond look in Wade's eyes and the dopey grin on his face. He had always thought they were just jokes. It was hard to think that now as he looked in awe at Wade and watched as the other boy started blushing too before looking away himself.

"We should probably get to our next class, right?" Wade still wasn't looking at him. "So uh- lead the way, Peter Rabbit."

"That's a new one."

"Yeah, I know. The author isn't very original."

"What?" Peter said confused, raising an eyebrow in the other boy's direction.

"Nothing," Wade said blowing a strand of hair out of his face and looking at Peter with a grin. "Don't you worry your pretty little head about it, Petey."

The blush was working it's way down Peter's neck and he elbowed Wade as they walked to their next class, making small talk and getting to know each other this way. As people, not heroes...or well, whatever Deadpool was to the masses.

"AP Math," Peter warned when they had gotten to the classroom door. "The work isn't too bad, but the lessons are b-o-r-i-n-g."

"Nothings boring if you have the right attitude, mi amigo!" Wade tossed an arm over his shoulder, before dragging him along through the door. "Hello Advanced Placement Mathematics, thy name is Wade!"

Peter groaned, covering his now red face. A few students in class laughed and the teacher only urged them to find their seats. Wade followed a sulking Peter to a desk and winked at him once they were both seated.

 _I_ _hate_ _you_ , Peter mouthed towards the scarred boy who only chuckled and blew him a kiss. Peter's resulting blush only made him laugh harder.

They spent the rest of the morning going from class to class trying not to bore themselves to death. Wade, of course, kept his promise of trying to make each class more fun than the last. He managed to make Peter laugh twice, even if he did earn himself a detention while doing it.

By the time lunch rolled around Peter was looking at Wade with new eyes. He tried not to think about how it was probably because he was heart broken about MJ and needed someone to take up his time and affection.

He's always thought Deadpool was okay, a best friend at his best and a little idle noise at his worst, but he was constant all the same. Now he has Wade too. Goofy Wade with the mixed-matched eyes and puckered scars and wicked grin. Wade that spent all day trying his hardest to both embarrass and cheer him up. Peter blushed when he realized he was still staring at Wade even as he chewed his food and quickly. He had a hand covering his mouth and a shifty look in his eyes.

"Sorry," Wade said to him softly across the table. "Didn't mean to put you off your meal."

"No, you're fine, Wade. Really. I just uh-" he stuttered for a second. "I just wanted to thank you...for today. It means a lot that you tried to cheer me up all day."

"Oh." It was Wade's turn to blush. He looked back down at his lunch tray, only his fruit was left. "I er- Don't like seeing you sad, Webs, you know that. You do so much for everybody. You deserve to be happy to, eh?"

Luckily they were the only two at their table, otherwise his friends would have done their whole eyebrow-raise-in-sync thing. Ned was in an empty classroom somewhere helping Abraham because he had missed Decathlon practice last week and MJ had gone missing after class. His head reminded him she probably ran off to rendezvous with her secret girlfriend. He pouted a little at the thought, but then Wade was there, blue eye looking like the ocean, the brown one looking like the bark of a hawthorn tree, deep and rich.

"Thanks, Wade. You're really important too, though you know that already, don't you?" Peter said jokingly but he saw Wade gulp before turning the notch up on his goofy lopsided grin.

"It's still nice to hear sometimes, my liege."

Wade was tapping his fingers on the table and Peter slid his own food tray over the the fidgeting dirty blonde.

"You were a bottomless pit before, who knows what that means now that you're a teenager."

"...Thanks, Pete," Wade said softly before digging in. Peter rested his head on his hand as he happily watched his friend eat. If he had a soft and dopey look on his face, nobody dared to tell him.


	11. A Suit Worth its Sentiment

When they leave school that afternoon they're walking with Ned, but MJ had taken off early.

"Is she avoiding you now because she knows you like her?" Ned asked. "Did you do something weird again, dude?"

"No. N- what do you mean weird?" Peter said with raised eyebrows but Ned only shrugged.

"I don't know like a Spider-man thing. Did you like lay eggs?"

"I don't-"

"You lay eggs?" Wade asked, a mix of confused and excited, but its clear the excitement was winning out even as he looked Peter over.

"No, I don't la-"

"I'm thinking it's a spider thing," Ned said nodding to Wade.

" _I've_ never seen you lay eggs, baby boy," said Wade feeling left out and Peter groaned.

"That's because I _don't_ lay eggs! Ned we already went over this."

"I just think the bite did more than let you stick to walls."

Peter didn't mean to blush because it wasn't necessarily anything bad. He just wouldn't want to discuss it with his two best friends. _Sup guys, I'm super strong, can stick to walls and I have basically no rebound time after I jack off in the shower._ He rolled his eyes to himself because he already knew how weird that'd be.

He and Wade split from Ned and started the trek to Avengers Tower with a wave and promise to see him tomorrow at school.

"Is it a sex thing?" Wade said and Peter both blushed and paused at his lack of preparation. "So it is a sex thing. The author made a sex joke, she confirmed it. I love being right. Doesn't happen as often as you might think."

"I'm ignoring you. You're talking nonsense."

"Well ever since my...heh...accident, I know little Wade is a lot more sensitive. All my physical senses are at like 12. And I know you've said before that you have a sensory thing too. Lights and sounds and that one time I hugged you too hard and almost broke a rib. So when your friend said...well whatever he said, you blushed." Wade shrugged. "I just figured it was a sex thing you weren't telling him. You can tell me though, right?"

"Wade, I- I just don't want to talk about it."

"Is little spidey super sensitive too?"

"Wade."

"I could be your test subject. You can web me up anyway you like." Wade was leaning over to whisper in Peter's ear and the boy shivered beside him.

"Wade, stop." Peter hadn't meant to be so loud, and he knew Wade was mostly kidding, but he wasn't used to talking about this stuff and the one night he _had_ talked about stuff like this to Deadpool they were high on laughing gas or something and he was wearing his mask. They both were. Saying this without the giggles...or his mask. He shook his head. He didn't think he could do it.

Wade froze and took a few steps back.

"Yeah, sorry. Uh...Pete, can I- er...I'll just catch up with you later okay?"

Before Peter could say anything the boy turned tail and fled. Peter chased him for almost a block before he lost him and had to make his way back to Mr. Stark. Alone. The extra suit in his bag felt heavy now as he heaved his bookbag higher on his shoulders.

The look on Tony's face when he made it back was screaming no, but reluctantly he snatched up Deadpool's suit and beckoned for Peter to follow him, with a lazy hand, to the lab.

With Peter's help, it didn't take Tony very long to work out a few ideas and create a new suit for Wade, one that will fit his younger form. It also took about that long for Tony to finally ask Peter what's wrong.

"What do you mean, Mr. Stark? Nothings wrong."

"Pete, I've known you for almost 3 years now. We've been on missions. We went to space. Not a good time, shouldn't have brought that up. What I mean to say is: I know you, kid. You're usually buzzing like a bee around the lab. You haven't moved or said a word since you got here. What's going on?"

"So...you remember MJ?"

"Likes to draw people in despair, very intimidating glare, eats ice cream with her teeth, super scary girlfriend-"

"She's not my girlfriend."

"No, she has a super scary girlfriend. Two of them actually."

"She," Peter paused, "she does?"

"Yeah, saw her eating ice cream, with her teeth may I add _again_ , because that is just unnatural, with a couple of girls from the X-Men building over in Westchester county. Asked if she was having problems and she told me to mind my business 'cause I was _'your_ dad not hers' and they were 'on a date'. Tell me," Tony said once he was finished, "do you see me as a father figure, Pete."

"Mr. Stark that is not what we were-"

"Oh, right, MJ. Go on."

"So I had this crush on MJ, right? I mean, she's great, you know? Funny and smart and she cares about other people even though she doesn't want them to know it. And today she said she didn't like me _that_ way 'cause...well I guess it's obvious to _you_ now. So I spent the rest of the day with Wade and Ned and I don't know if she's avoiding me or if she just skipped school to be with her scary girlfriend."

" _Girlfriends_. Theres two."

"To be with both of her scary _girlfriends_."

"Atta boy."

"So now I think I might like Wade, but now I think he's upset with me? And...yeah." Peter blows out a breath but Tony is shaking his head.

"Suck that back in, underoos. You can't like Wade, he's too old for you."

"He's 17."

"And what happens when he's not?"

"I'll be 18 in a couple of months."

"And he'll still almost be 10 years older than you."

"But I'll be an adult."

"Nope," Tony said throwing a wad of paper at Peter's head. "Won't allow it. The fumes are getting to your head. No more lab time for you."

Tony checked his watch before actually jumping up and pushing a laughing Peter closer to the door, while the kid made grabby hands.

"My bag, Mr. Stark!" Peter said through a laugh and Tony called Dum-E to bring it over.

"Now, off you pop. It's been a long day, your crush was a lesbian now they're a murderer. You need to get home, get dinner and talk to May before she goes in for a second shift."

"I know what you're trying to do, and it won't work," Peter said, but he laughed all the same as he opened the door to the lab. He turned around again a smile toying at the edges of his mouth. "You know you're not actually my dad, right Mr. Stark?"

"Blasphemy!" Tony said turning back to him. A grin split across Peter's face.

"Tell me, Tony, do you see me as a son figure?"

This time Tony threw Deadpool's new suit at him.

"Go home, Peter."

"Bye, Mr. Stark! Love you!" He catches Pepper on his way out to tell her the same. Tony rolled his eyes, but he knows they both know the truth.


	12. I Know I'm Falling for You

The streets were full of their usual noise as Peter made his way back home. The honking of horns was almost deafening this close to the ground, yet all he was focused on was his phone.

"Wade, just answer the phone..." Peter groaned as he tried and failed to get ahold of the deaged merc. He was one unanswered call away from just showing up at the merc's old apartment, and when Wade didn't answer, he followed up on that threat.

He stood on the roof of Wade's complex, pacing back and forth. He had been here plenty of times as Spider-Man. Would it be weird for him to show up as Peter instead? Is that allowed? He's still wearing his bookbag and he thinks it may be better to just change than take the chance, but then his phone is ringing and it's Wade, of all people.

"There were brains on the ceiling," he had said foregoing pleasantries and skipping to the explanation.

"You usually have me on speaker when you do your spring cleaning, dear," Peter joked, thinking maybe things were okay again.

" _My_ brains."

"Oh." Peter's voice sounded small even to his own ears.

"Did you need something?" Wade sounds tired and Peter thinks that maybe Wade forgot how strongly teens _feel_. How rough everything was. If being Spider-Man sent Peter's senses to 11, being a teenager meant that number was doubled. His heart was on his sleeve because he had no other place to put it with all the things he had to feel and protect. Peter clears his throat.

"I'm on the roof. You weren't answering and I got worried." He plops down on the edge of the building, then starts swinging his legs back and forth. "And I can see I was right to worry. I've been calling you for _hours_. You should have been up, yeah?" The last part is mumbled. It's not meant to be rude or uncomfortable, but Spidey had walked in on a dead Deadpool more than once...in multiple different ways. If it were with a gun, which he figured it was, the bullets only took a few minutes to pop back out. After that the healing was almost instantaneous. So why hadn't Wade woken up? "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Maybe I just took a nappy-poo," the other boy tried to defend, "Ever think of that, hmm?"

"I know death gives you an adrenaline rush, druggy." If he were here, Peter would have nudged him to show he wasn't serious, even if it was the truth. Death gave Deadpool a rush. When he would come back, it was like he had downed an espresso full of energy drink.

"You're my only drug, Webs! I swear it!" Wade's dramatic tone was enough to erase the death from his mind and make him laugh. But the honesty he could tell was laced within the joke was still enough to knock the breath out of him.

"You and I both know that's not true," Peter said wirh a quietly pleased smile, instead of focusing on how much Wade really cares as he tightened his bag straps, tapping on his phone case but trying to stop himself from stimming or rambling. He took a few deep breaths. He wasn't stressed. He was fine, _Wade_ was fine. Peter released a breath and picked at a loose thread on his shirt. "Can I come down, DP? I need to see you."

Wade sucked in a breath on the other side of the phone and Peter could tell he wanted to say something but was forcing himself to stop. He wished he wouldn't. He wished things were as open as they were before when Wade was _just_ Deadpool and Peter was _just_ Spiderman and they could tell each other secrets because they were best friends but they were strangers and he thinks that in a lot of cases, that makes all the difference.

"Window s'open." He heard gruffly through the phone and he hung up before pulling himself back onto the roof and properly latching onto the side of the building and crawling to Wade's place.

Peter pushed his way through and tried not to wince at the harsh red blood stain still on the headrest of Wade's recliner as soon as he came in. It had dried a bit over the hour or so it'd been there undisturbed, but a stain that concentrated was still in the midst of looking wet and soaked through. Before he made any other moves, his eyes roamed the room for his friend and when he found him, sitting on the floor between the windows, his head was between his knees. Peter sat his bag down as quiet as possible and went to get the cleaning stuff to get rid of the blood. It would help Wade relax. The smell was always so strong and it always made him feel so guilty afterwards. Always made the boxes louder after the first feeling of being alive wore off.

He'd told Spider-Man that once. Or at least, Deadpool had. Not this 17-year-old kid with a knife in his hand, a pounding in his skull and no shirt on his back.

"I never meant to push you," said Wade without any preamble, looking at Peter, the knife in the same hand that's gripping roughly at it's owner's hair. "After school? I shoulda- I didn't mean...I shouldn't have- I just...oh, I mean- NOT LIKE THAT EVEN _MATTERS_!" he snapped at himself and flinches at himself even as the voice still came pouring from his own mouth.

Peter kneeled in front of the other boy, tucked into himself, and slowly placed his hands on Wade's, helping him to release his hair and some of the tension within him, until the young merc dropped the knife. Peter stared at the boy in front of him, scarred and scared and full of self-hatred, and he _**loved**_.

Peter's heart thrummed with that feeling in a way it never had for MJ. The need to talk and laugh and hold and protect and care for and be cared for in return was strong and unyielding and he could barely breathe. His hands tightened around Wade's and the boy looked up at him. His mix-matched eyes watery but steady and Peter threw himself into a hug, wrapping his arms around Wade's neck.

"For fuck's sake, Wade," he said in a breath and the boy under him laughed, before lifting his own hands and placing them around Peter's waist.

"Bad memories," he whispered. "Didn't want to- shouldn't have pushed. You said no."

"I did. But it's okay. We're okay."

"No it's not, Peter! What if this wasn't just about some dumb spider thing? What if this was serious? What if I-" he gulped but didn't let it stop him. "What if I hurt you?"

Peter leans so their foreheads are touching and he moves his hands to grip Wade's face.

"You wouldn't hurt me, Wade. I trust you."

"I don't."


	13. The GS Effect

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> " Knows that they have different faces and traits and lovers, but that they're all Peter Parker, and they all aren't as lucky. This Peter is still terrified. "

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [contains canon typical violence] & angst

Peter has pulled Wade up and into the bedroom. He has his arms wrapped around him as they lay there in silence, the fingers of one of their hands laced together because the contact was calming for both of them.

"You know, if you wanted to cuddle, you coulda just asked," Wade said, his voice hoarse from quietly crying. Peter chuckled but laid his forehead against the back of Wade's neck nonetheless. This became their new normal. School then Wade's place after school then May's place for dinner before or after patrol depending on how much help the city is calling for.

They aren't dating, but Peter wants to call it a near thing. Wants to ask what Wade wants.

Almost a month into their new routine and they're huddled in Wade's bed again. Peter ran a thumb over the puckered skin that covered one of Wade's arms and asked something he'd been wanting to know.

"Hey, Wade?"

"Yeah?"

"These scars..." His voice shook in the silent space. "Wha- What happened to you?"

"Cancer," Wade said more like a question than an answer. "And experimentation. I uh- didn't really have anything to live for. I had a girl, 'cause you know there's always a girl in stories like this. But I was dying and in so much pain all the time I kinda pulled away, but my girl wouldn't let me. She was a badass. And that was _before_ I got sent to the underworld. Anyway," he sing-songed,"I signed up for the same program that created or tortured Wolverine, ya know depends on your views, I guess. You know the guy though, eh? Big, hairy, angry, separate movie franchise? Well as it turns out the program was mostly a sham. You know, the governments way of killing folks, getting rid of supers or mutants or anything in between. If they made more, great! If not," he shrugged,"then the world was better off."

"That's crazy! Why didn't anyone call for help? Wha- what about Mr. Stark?"

"Pete, half the mutants hate Iron-Dick. They don't agree with the accords. And a lot of folks didn't like him even before that. There's no one to call. For the most part, they're mutants. The police or the government or whoever get that call and they capture and study the entire fuck out of them. It'd be like signing their lives away. The ones who _did_ sign are in good enough standing where nothing can happen to them without people noticing. And then others are like me, we didn't have anyone _to_ call. I wasn't special before this. I was a traumatized war vet asshole with cancer and daddy issues. Now I'm all of that, **_plus_** I can't die!"

"But-" Peter started, but Wade's grip tightened in his own.

"They accepted me in the program, because of course they did. Why wouldn't they? I was perfect for them. They injected me with who knows what and by the end of it all I had a healing factor that makes me actively immortal, but it keeps me in a kind of uh...stasis. It can't kill the cancer because it's a part of me, so it keeps destroying and rebuilding itself. That's what the scars are," he said finally. "Part of the healing process or whatever."

"Is it okay that I touch them?" Peter asked quietly pulling his hand away and Wade bristled.

"I'm not contagious, Peter."

"No! Of course not! No, I would never say- I just wanted to know if they hurt. I don't want you to be in pain, Wade. That's all. I don't want to hurt you either."

"I'm always in pain," said Wade quietly, his shoulders relaxing again as he tugged Peter's hand back around him. "You make it better. You take my mind off of it."

The sound of Wade's phone buzzing is almost too much to handle after so much intense sharing, but he answers it nonetheless, his face tightening. Peter can feel his hand go slack in his and he thinks he can identify to moment he is laying with Deadpool instead of Wade. He catches Peter's eye as the phone call ends and he's back as if he had never been anywhere at all, and Peter figures that maybe he hadn't. At least, not _really_.

"Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. Can't catch a break," Wade said throwing himself from the bed and moving around to stand in the closet where he sorted through a mix of leather and civvies. "None of these are gonna work today," he whined, pulling out one of his Deadpool suits. "They're fine for just patrolling in, but for a real mission, it's a no go!" Peter had never even thought about the fact that he'd had more than one, but he sits up anyway with a shy look.

"I- uh...I have your suit. Well a suit for you. Me and Mr. Stark spent the other afternoon working on it, but you never showed up so I figured I'd bring it by but you weren't answering and-"

" _God_ , you're adorable, really, but _where is it_?"

"Uh- still in my bookbag? I think?"

Wade rushed out of the room and came back to shove the bag at Peter who looked at him quizically. He unzipped the biggest pocket, digging around his math book to pull it out then goes back for the mask. He'd done enough work here for Wade to be able to distinguish it from his own get away bags and that made Peter's heart thrum.

"You could have just gotten it, you know?"

"Self set boundaries. Good to have some of those. Stops me from doing things I want but shouldn't."

"And so the student becomes the teacher. Well, show me what you've learned, Master," Peter joked with a sly grin and Wade blinked at him. His cheeks were red and he backed away from the bed with a nervous gleam in his eyes. Peter noticed his discomfort and looked at him with a tilted head. "Wade? Are you okay?"

"Pete, you can't just say stuff like that. Not when we're so close and you're in my bed. Oh, _god_. I'm going to change. Luckily, my suits can hide boners. S'gonna be great!"

When he came back, he told Peter to get suited up too. They had to catch the man Deadpool never got the chance to shoot. He was doing human experiments on the other side of the city and who knew how long until he had what he would consider a break through. They were supposed to be headed there for recon not rescue, but something about it made Peter's spidey sense scream.

"Don't give me that look, okay? I made a mistake," Peter said later, shooting a web to pull himself up the building quicker.

"Oh, yeah? And what look would that be?" Deadpool asked, white lenses narrowed.

"The _i-told-you-so look_. Like I should have let you shoot that guy back during the expo. I didn't know what he was up to, but you know how I am about the killing thing."

"If I wanted to say I told you so, this would be me saying I told you so. I told you so! You should have let me shoot him to shit back at the expo!" Deadpool said petulantly, shimmying up a pipe so he can make his way up to the roof. "This guy is bad news. I wasn't even going to unalive him..." his voice died off as he murmured to himself. "...maybe just torture him. Maim'em if I had 'nuff time."

Peter is stuck to the wall, crawling up the sleek stucture trying and failing to apologize, because he knows that if he tells Deadpool that he wants him to do better Wade is going to take it more personal than just the not-killing thing, because after a year of working with Deadpool and weeks hanging out with Wade, he's almost sure he knows what makes the other super tick. But then they've broken into the lab and they're cornered and it's a trap.

Peter throws out a web bomb that sends almost half of the security detail flying and sticking to the nearest wall. When they've taken down the rest and run through the rest of the floor searching for the real mastermind Wade whispered into his comms that it was probably going to be another trap. That there was nothing they could do about that, but let them think they were winning. He forced Peter up and into the vents to hide and help and wait then he walked into the door and was shot in the arm, the blood pulling the suit in tighter already making a compress as his body started pushing out the bullet. He had told him it would be okay to just calm down. Do a few stealth take downs and he would handle the talking.

They make it to the roof this way, dividing and conquering. Luckily, Deadpool doesn't kill anyone on the way up. Once they're on the roof things change. Peter feels the rain before he sees it. He glances up just as a bullet grazes Deadpool's shoulder, though the merc doesn't seem to notice. He looks over the army of men running towards them, the less scientist behind it all grinning as he holds a long needled syringe to his own throat.

"Uh- Karen, what's the chances of us winning this fight?"

_The chances of winning are about 32.7%_ , Karen said in his ear then Deadpool is speaking over her.

"The name's not Karen, Spider-babe, and don't worry, we got this. Just watch." Without any further talk, he throws himself into battle, hacking and slashing at their enemies, but decidedly not killing anyone. Peter throws himself into battle just the same. Throwing punches and webbing enemies to each other. The more people they get through the stronger they seem to get.

Peter screamed as an electric current coursed its way through his body. Then it happened again and again before he felt something thicker than the rain. He turned around to find Deadpool standing there, holding a head in a bloody gloved fist. Peter would ask why, and tell him there was another way, but he knows Deadpool runs on instinct. He knows why. He knows that he's been trying to do better and he knows that in DP's head it's kill or be killed. He figured maybe he was too close to death for his friend to be comfortable with and he loves him a little harder. His heart singing loudly in his sore chest.

It's only a few of them left. Spider-Man and Deadpool and the henchmen and the target.

It took less than a minute to get through the crowd of armed guards. Then they're standing in front of what looked like it used be a man in a lab coat, but he'd already injected himself with whatever was in his syringe from before and he had started to grow. His skin was flashing from gray to deep green then back to its normal hue. Deadpool wasted no time before running the man through with his blade before he could get too big or become invincible.

"Look, it's a scum-kabob," he said as he turned to grin at Spidey. While Deadpool was grinning and laughing, the target, dying but feet still trying to find purchase, knocked him away. Deadpool was sliding on the slick and smooth surface before slipping off the edge. Peter watched in horror before running closer, throwing his arms out to try and grab him. 

His heart hammering in his chest and the adrenaline forcing his body into overdrive was what sent his hand out, a web slicing it's easy from his wrist and snatching Wade from his fall. There was an unmistakable crack and Peter froze. He stared down at the twisted and contorted red and black leather suit. His entire being seemed to call out: _Wade_! He blinked down and he was staring at a curvy yet angular body. A white lab coat draped around a sweet blond. _Gwen_? He blinked again and now she's a reporter, red hair blowing backwards. _Mary_ _Jane_?

He couldn't explain what happened even if he had been watching from the sidelines, but the picture below him is foggy the last time he blinks. All three bodies a blur, layered on top of each other and he feels himself pull the body up, knows somehow that there are three of him trying to pull up the person they love. Knows that they have different faces and traits and lovers, but that they're all Peter Parker, and they all aren't as lucky. This Peter is still terrified. 

"DP?" When he doesn't get a response he slides further onto the roof, laying the quickly chilling body over his lap and he knows that if nothing else, _that_ is wrong, because Wade is always hot. His body heat was usually enough to forego a space heater when they're sitting on the couch playing video games or watching a movie. Even back when they didn't know each other's faces and they hung out in full gear. "Wade please, you have to answer me. You can't die. I know that, okay, but this is still freaking me out so I need you to say something. _Anything_. Please." 

Peter doesn't realize that he's crying even as he made hideous sobbing noises, because Wade's neck looks too long and too fragile and angled too wrong and even if he woke up right now, Peter still wouldn't be able to get over the fact that he killed him.

"Wade, I swear to God-" Peter swallowed down a particularly harsh sob as he pulled Deadpool's mask off just so he can touch Wade's face, but he has to look away, because there is blood leaking from his nose and his mouth and his beautiful mixed eyes are staring unseeing at the sky and it made Peter cry harder as the rain pounded on his back.

He gripped the body in his arms as tight as possible and made his way to Avengers tower. Swinging faster than he thought he'd ever be able to with one hand, even if it was clumsy and he kept hitting the walls face first. He had to get Wade somewhere safe. He had to get Wade back.


	14. What Do You Believe?

Tony told him that Wade should be fine, and Peter knows he **should** be. He's worked with Wade enough times to know that, but he **isn't** and that's the problem. His neck is still too long and too fragile and angled too wrong and Peter doesn't want to touch it, but Bruce tells him it may be one of the reasons Wade is taking so long to wake up, his body keeps healing his neck crooked so he keeps dying before he can even make it back to consciousness.

Peter reached a shaking hand out to brace Wade's head, the other pushing and pulling at his neck until it resembles the way a neck should. It takes another hour for it to heal that way. Wade still doesn't wake up. He's been moved to a room in the tower because Peter insisted that if he woke up- _when_ he wakes up, he'd panic seeing himself in a hospital bed.

Peter fell asleep in the bed, his arms wrapped around himself, tucked into the warm, but not quite warm enough, skin of Wade's body.

_The thwip of his web and the sound of his neck snapping is still loud in his ears as he stared down at the lifeless body in his hands. He's ripped his mask off to press his ear to Wade's chest because he should be fine. His healing factor should be kicking in any minute now, but it isn't._

_He's screaming and he can't stop crying, and he knows Tony is going to have a fucking field day over how well he screwed the pooch this time, but all he can think about is how Wade is dead in his arms and it's all his fault._

He woke up with a hand on his shoulder and Tony standing there holding out a glass of water. He sat up with him and listened to the nightmare. The memory. He sat and told him about Pepper being tortured and kidnapped and how he wanted to save her but couldn't really do anything and he talked about how in the end Wade has to save himself, they all do. He told Peter that Wade is physically fine; he should be waking up any day now, but if he doesn't choose to wake up, there's nothing they can do.

Peter had another nightmare.

Tony was checking on him more than he thought to check on Wade and Peter would have been mad about it if he didn't understand or if he could even work up the energy. Wade was annoying and had a tendency to be unlikable at the best of times and now he was just _there_. Mr. Stark said it made him uneasy and he barely even knew the guy. Peter agreed, but he couldn't leave. _He_ had done this. He had put Wade here. He was seconds from crying. His eyes burned and his throat was closing up and his mouth was dry when Tony came again to bring him lunch.

"Penny for your thoughts?" a rumbly voice had said the first night Spider-Man had went back on patrol. He was lounging in Hell's Kitchen mostly to mope. It was a place for that, he figured. Well that, and really good thai food. "Here for a confessional like your friend?"

"I'm Jewish," Spiderman said, because he is pitying himself and being difficult is always good for that. "We confess on our own."

"That's understandable. It's more personal that way." He didn't say anything else before Peter spoke up.

"I killed Deadpool," he said bluntly, tired of the back and forth, but also tired of the silence. _So much silence_. He hoped someone would punish him or yell or deal him some kind of consequences. Mr. Stark had shown him pity, understanding, sympathy... He shook his head. He needed to pay for his crime. He looked back over his shoulder to find a fit man in an all red suit, horns sticking atop his head.

"From what I hear," the man said calmly, sitting next to him, "he's pretty resilient."

"But he won't wake up," Spiderman whined. The man beside him seemed to shrug and he noticed the man wasn't even looking at him. Wasn't looking at anything in particular. He was just listening.

"Everything takes time. He'll wake up too, when it's time for him to."

"Do you really believe that? All that faith and religion stuff?"

"Honestly?" asked the man beside him and Peter nodded then corrected himself.

"Yeah, honestly."

"I don't know what I believe. I have faith in good men- good _**people**_ , and in the power of a person to make a change because _they_ believe in something. I guess I believe in miracles because we're both sitting here like we're heroes when we're really just people in costumes who are trying to do some good. But as far as religion goes, my father was Catholic. I don't really know what _I_ am anymore." He shrugged. He doesn't turn to look at the boy beside him at all as he talks, but it's still an intimate conversation. They're still friends yet strangers in that way that heroes are. That, Peter supposes, they have to be.

They talk about friends and enemies and food and movies and Deadpool. They talk about him a lot. They talk about his humor and his kindness and his oddness and how Spiderman managed to fall in love with him and it's his own damn fault (the last one is mostly Peter, but the man laughed anyway).

The man didn't want him to be alone. It wasn't obvious in how easily the conversation flowed, but then he said it. That he wanted Spider-Man to stay safe. To take care of himself. Peter's eyes burned under his mask when he looked away. He was actually pretty glad he stopped in Hell's Kitchen.

Later, when Peter looked down as the date on his watch clicked over, he huffed out a breath as he walked home, back in his civvies, whispering to himself: "Happy birthday, Peter Parker."

It'd been almost three months when Wade finally woke up. His voice was hoarse, as if it were possible for his brokeness to seep all the way through. Peter wouldn't believe he was really there.

"Webs, I'm fine. I swear it on my 1962 first edition," Wade said quietly, his grip on Peter's shoulder real and unwavering.

"No," said Peter stubbornly.

"Pete, c'mon, I'm right here. Look at me. Please."

"No!" he screamed, terrified, his head in his hands."You died, Wade. I- I _killed_ you. I tried to save you and I..." Peter broke off into a sob.

"If you hadn't have caught me, I'd have been roadkill. I was a goner either way."

Peter turned to him ready to push at him and sob and tell him _not to fucking say that_ , but then his breath was stuck in his throat. His eyes were still overflowing. His nose was probably snotty beyond reason. Even his heart was thudding loud as a thunderstorm in his ear, because there was Wade. Scarred and healed and smiling and looking at him with those damn eyes, _Wade_. Peter threw himself back onto the bed, wrapping his arms around the sore merc.

"I missed you," he sobbed. "I missed you so fucking much."

"Did I go somewhere? Where've I been?"

"You were dead, you big scab!" Peter said pulling away from him before tightening his hold again, talking directly into his ear, not letting him go. "You were dead for _months_. I thought you were never coming back."

Wade didn't wait any longer to wrap his arms around Peter too.

"You ain't gettin' rid of me that easily, Petey-Pie. We're a package deal, remember that?"

"A package deal," Peter agreed, but he doesn't loosen his grip until he finally falls asleep, exhausted.

When Tony came in later, he was happy to see Peter asleep but surprised to see Wade pacing around the room as if his death was merely consequential in stopping the bad guy. Tony froze when he realized that to Deadpool...to Wade, it probably _was_.

He spent the rest of the night in the lab, because he had been close enough to a breakthrough before The Fall™. He had known that he could fix Wade before but the testing was going to take forever, he knew that. But if the deaging thing was the only problem with his healing...if it was the reason he hadn't woken up before now, Tony was going to help him, if only for Peter's sake. He had to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my bois awake. love him.


	15. On the Last Day of Wademas

The boxes were quiet for once. He didn't remember them ever being so...not loud? He sucked in a few breaths, but his eyes were still closed and his back was up against something cold.

"Hey, Red," a voice said softly when Wade finally came to.

"Spidey?" asked Wade, slowly blinking his eyes back open. He guessed he fell asleep sometime after he practically paced a hole in the floor. He looked down at himself, sitting on the floor, with his back against a glass window and his head pressed to his knees. The motion had him realizing that he'd been trying to stop his the voices from being so loud and when they had finally _**shut-the-fuck-UP**_ , he had crashed where he stood.

"Wade," Peter said almost in reverence. He walked slowly over to Wade before taking a seat on the floor just across from him, his back pushed up against the side of the bed.

"Hey, Webs, what's up?" he grinned at him and watched the other boy smile so devotedly it hurt.

"Still trying to convince myself it wasn't all just some twisted nightmare. I missed you."

Wade pushed himself from the wall and walked over to Peter, ploppung down next to him and wrapping his arms around his shoulder, pulling him in for a hug.

"I'm not going anywhere, Spidey. promise."

Peter let himself be enveloped before sobbing into Wade's shoulder.

"I'm sorry I hurt you and-" he was trying to hiccup his way through an apology. Wade wouldn't let him finish.

"You know what I love about you, Petey-Pie, you're so goddamn good to me."

"Wade, I-"

"I'm serious. You-you _and_ Spidey-you. You're always there when I need someone to help set my shoulder or reattach my leg or keep me occupied with video games. Even now when I'm younger and more annoying and partially actively mortal. You don't have to be here. You didn't have to from the start, but you were and you tried to help me adjust the best you could and- _mmph_!"

It wasn't moments before Wade had a lap full of Spidey, kissing him senseless.

\--:--

Tony wasn't the happiest camper when he came back to find Deadpool connected to Peter at the lips, a lap full of his son. Well his almost son. He cleared his throat and knocked on one of the metal tables in the room, his rings plinking on the steel surface.

"Wilson."

"Stank," Wade said back with a lazy grin. His face was patterned and pockmarked and even if he had hair now it grew in odd blonde patches so he had taken to wearing a beanie. But here, with Peter, his head was bare and his eyes were bright and Tony had to look away. If he looked too long he may sympathize with the guy, but he was a murderer. His heart thumped when he tried to figure out what made him so different from Deadpool. He was a murderer too. For years. He had been given another chance and yet he stood in the way of Wade's at every turn. Tony shook his head and cleared his throat again.

"We took a few blood test while you were out cold and I think I've figured out a way to reverse this." He waved his hand at Wade flippantly.

"You mean return my dashing good looks? Do tell."

"You look fine Wade," Peter murmured, shoving his shoulder and climbing from his lap to sit next to him, still wrapped in his arms.

"I meant the deaging thing, numb-skull. Otherwise your healing factor will leave you as a 17 year old kid forever. And that means slower reboot time. We aren't sure what exactly cause the slowness of your healing, but we know it's part of the problem. It's why it takes hours for you to wake up from a bullet and months to wake up from a fall. Whatever the case, I have FRIDAY running the final calculations. You should be back to normal in less than 24 hours."

"That's great," Peter said looking from his mentor to his...boyfriend(?) "Isn't that great, DP?"

Wade felt a mix of relief and terror, but he couldn't move his mouth. His little vacation was almost over and he didn't know if he was ready.

"I'll uh...leave you to back to your little kissing fest."

"Tony!" Peter wheezed embarrassed.

"Don't forget to use protection." He was gone before he could hear Peter's protest.

"I can't catch or carry diseases," Wade said in a way that sounded almost joking even though his face still looked shaken and he was telling the truth.

"DP, are you sure you're okay?"

"Mhm. Peachy keen, jelly bean."

"Wade," Peter said as stern as he could muster, sitting up and pulling away from the deaged boy. "Look at me."

Wade tilted his head in Peter's direction, but didn't move much more than that. Peter placed a soft hand on Wade's own scarred ones, fidgeting in his lap.

"Wade Winston Wilson, if you don't just fucking look at me-" Peter froze when those beautiful eyes finally found him. They weren't looking, yheu were devouring every part of Peter they could find, as if they would never see him again. Peter grabbed Wade's face and moved in close so that their eyes had to focus on each other.

"We won't be together," Wade said quietly.

"Yes we will. I'm 18 now and I've been old enough to make my own decisions. I love you, Wade, okay? Nothing is going to change that."

"I just- what if we wait? I'll still be here, ya know. And we could just wait and I'll turn back when you're older."

"No," Peter said firmly. It wasn't a bad idea by any means, but he knew Wade didn't really want this. Being stuck in a child's body, having to go to school and watched over and getting hurt and being out of commission for more than the few hours it took for a leg to grow back.

"I don't want people to judge you for being with me, Petey. You don't deserve that."

"And you don't deserve to be stuck going through this for years and missing out on time with Ellie, just waiting for me to catch up. I don't care about what anyone else thinks about us, okay? I love you."

Peter's chest thrummed when he realized that he'd said the L-word twice in the span of one conversation and his blush began creeping up his cheeks, causing Wade who had pulled back a bit too chuckle a little and look at him in awe, pulling him back in for a kiss.

"I love you too, Peter," Wade whispered softly against his lips.


	16. Wade, I Don't Need Protection

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FINAL CHAPTERRRRRR...well then the epilogue
> 
> *smut warning: a blowjob & mentions of sex*  
> ::trigger warning for the boxes::
> 
> smut ends just before the page break if you want to skip it

[White Box] **[Yellow Box]**

The weight of Peter pinning him against the couch was both pleasant and exciting. Though the boy still wasn't more than a buck-seventy-five soaking wet, the pressure he put on Wade's wrists made him whimper in a good way. They were back at Wade's place. The plan was to clean up and pack an outfit or two to get him ready for re-aging. It should have been simple enough really, but as soon as the window was shut, Peter pounced.

"Back off, baby boy, before I unsheathe my katana all-"

"Put your money where your mouth is, Wade." Peter grinded his hips down into him and Wade let out a breath when he felt Peter's own rising excitement. He groaned of this was the only chance he'd get with lovely young man above him, he was going to take it.

"I can put a lot of things where my mouth is," he said with a smirk and a roll of his hips, "wanna see?" He took Peter's flustered look as a chance to flip them over and slide lower on the bed, running his nails playfully down Petey's sides. Their shirts were long gone, tossed onto the floor or the side table.

Wade lifted him up easily and even though he wasn't at his usual height or strength, Peter can admit that he still swooned when Wade carried him bridal style to the bedroom. And once they both hit the bed, it didn't take long for their lips to find each other again.

Peter was beneath Wade, moaning and groaning into his mouth and bucking his hips up into the other. Then Wade's hands were at his sides again, slipping into the waistband of his pants and Peter froze.

"We don't have to do this," Wade insisted, sitting back on his thighs. "We can go watch a movie or play Mario Kart 'til Iron Dildo calls us back."

"No, Wade, I want to. I've just- I've never..." Peter looked away embarrassed, his cheeks redder than Deadpool's suit and Wade cooed.

"Oh, god, Petey-Pie, you're so perfect." He slid down on the bed, spreading Peter's knees slightly as he did. His mouth was so close to Peter's crotch he could feel the breaths blowing against his dick, straining against his sweatpants to break free. "We don't have to do anything else, just let me do this for you. Please."

Peter nodded dumbly, but still held his breath when Wade pulled his pants down just over the swollen head, before releasing the rest and watching as his cock bobbed and smacked his abdomen. Wade leaned forward and reached a hand out, stroking Peter slowly. His breath came out in a rush and Wade whined.

"You're so beautiful. Prettier than a fucking princess. I never thought you would-" He slid further back on the bed before he was finally able to put the tip into his mouth. He licked at it for a bit trying to learn what Peter liked before taking him a bit deeper and pulling off with a sloppy pop. "Didn't think you would have ever wanted to be with me like this." He continued to stroke Peter as he spoke before mouthing at his cock again.

"Wade, I've wanted you, god. How could I not want you. You're so funny and honest and-" Peter's half lidded eyes were on the scarred face below him, all chiseled jaw and killer cheekbones and lust-filled eyes, "beautiful."

Wade's mouth is back on him, bobbing up and down sloppily. There's a line of spit and precum running between the scars on his chin, but he looks so blissed out as Peter moans praises above him.

_So good. Beautiful. Perfect. Love you._

He takes as much of Peter into his mouth as he can, even forcing down the urge to gag when he gets Peter into his throat and swallows around him. He wants to be good for him, because Peter deserves the best first time ever and Wade wants that for him. One of his hands is working Peter's balls while the other is in his pants palming his own erection as he pulls off of the dick in his mouth, panting heavily.

His lips are dark red and swollen and perpetually scarred and chapped, even covered in spit and precum as they are.

"I love you too," he says, the hoarseness of his voice evident, and Peter spurts all over him. The sight is gorgeous enough to make him cream his pants. He runs a finger through the mess Peter's made of him and brings it to his mouth, sucking it off with a moan before pulling off the rest of their clothes and kissing Peter deeply, their tongues twisting around each other trying to map out a space that is theirs to share.

They don't leave the bed until Tony calls.

\--:--

It took 6 days, 21 hours, and 33 minutes for Tony to come up with the antidote, but now they were down to the wire. Less than 24 hours before things were at least relatively normal again. Thinking back to the accident at the expo, the answer should have been obvious.

Wade's problem was a mix of chemical engineering and the nano cells. When he got hurt the nanos tried to heal him but his cells were cancerous. The closest they could find healthy cells was Pete. So Wade shrunk to accommodate. Tony pinched the bridge of his nose. He loved science, but sometimes he fucking hated it.

"There's no telling what the antidote will do other than fix the shrinkage problem," Tony said trying not to notice how much closer Peter and Wade look. He was trying to keep his lunch down, thank you very much. He had said the protection thing as a joke not as his blessing to do whatever they wanted. He sighed. At the end of the day, he didn't like Deadpool, but he trusted Peter's instincts.

"Bottoms up," said Wade and Tony realized almost belatedly how scared the ex-mercenary was. He wondered how much of his big-and-bad demeanor was an act. Wade grabbed the vial from Tony's hand and tilted it back at the same time Bruce injected his arm with the second part of the serum. In moments, Wade was knocked out, but growing rapidly.

They laid him on the bed, hooking him up to the different machinery in the lab to see the progress and make sure nothing went wrong. Peter sat in the chair next to him, rubbing soothing circles on the back of the scarred and growing hand. An hour and a half later when Wade finally starts stirring, Peter gets to force away his own oncoming panic attack, because _Wade's okay._

Wade blinks his eyes open slowly, but the headache that had been trying to bang it's way through his skull was dimming quickly. In the seat next to him, someone squeezed his hand kindly.

"How you feeling, Red?"

He notices how much smaller the frame sitting beside him is for maybe the first time ever and feels his own heart break. He thinks that maybe having sex with Peter was a bad idea now that the other super is still looking at him like _that_ , like he loves him with everything he is. Knowing the kid as well as he does, he knows that that's the case and he shakes his head roughly, because that's what Peter is, really, spider bite or no. He's just a _kid._

His guilt is palpable.

"Stop that," Peter said blushing as he punched Wade in the arm. "I know what you're thinking. Don't look so guilty. I wanted it, okay. I liked it. So stop making that face."

"Wha-" he said, not sure he'd heard the younger man right.

**[See he's tired of you already.]**

[Thinks you're pathetic.]

**[You are pathetic. Almost 30 and you're shacking up with a 12 year old]**

"He's 18," Wade whispered through clenched teeth, a fist held roughly to his forehead.

**[Like thats any better]**

"He loves me," Wade said, his resolve slipping even as he argues back.

**[Why would he love you? Nobody loves you.]**

[Nobody has ever loved you]

**[Nobody ever will. So what makes him so special?]**

[He doesn't even know what love is]

**[You should just end it all now. This conversation. This relationship. Your life.]**

[He'd be better off without you]

**[He could still be a teenager without you preying on him]**

"I'm not- I wouldn't- we're not-" He slammed his head into his fist trying to knock the voices out, but it only made them louder. He reached across the bed for anything he can slam against his face, anything to shut up the voices yelling at him about how useless and pathetic and disgusting he is.

"Wade!" Peter said loudly, and it was as if he'd been calling him forever. He had his legs wrapped around Wade's waist and he was sitting on the man's thighs, both hands forcing him to look up at Peter. Wade blinked up at him dazedly, before having to look away. Peter brought their foreheads together. "I don't know what they're saying, but they're wrong. I love you and I'm going to be here for you. I'm not going anywhere. I don't need you to protect me from you or whatever. I can protect myself because I want to be with you."

"You love me," Wade said more to himself than to Peter, but the younger man agreed anyway.

"I love you."

"You're not going to leave me."

"Wouldn't dream of it."

"I love you, Peter," Wade whispered softly, as if he shouldn't be saying it at all. "So much."

"I love you too, Wade."

Wade flinched at the screaming match in his head, but when he looked into Peter's eyes, he knew Peter wasn't lying. He thought Wade was it for him. Wade and university and a job and whatever the future held for both of them.

With Peter by his side, Wade thinks maybe he can handle anything.


	17. Hey, Spider-Babe | Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> soft slice-of-life-time-skipped epilogue

Peter admits it isn't what he expects when he opens the door to his apartment and finds a bouquet of red spider lilies being shoved under his nose.

"Uh...thank you?" he says to the still quiet hallway, not being able to see anything past the bunch of flowers. He's 22 and living just close enough to Empire State University where at least he won't be late to class every morning.

"You know," says a voice he knows all too well, "you would think that he'd be happier to see us, eh?"

"Yeah, Papá. We came all this way and everything!" says another.

"Wade!" Peter says laughing, snatching the flowers aways and tossing them behind him onto the coffee table. He grabs the scarred face in front of him and kisses him squarely on the mouth before pulling away and kissing Ellie's forehead. "Hello, Princess."

"Hi, Uncle Webs," she says happily and he pulls her into a hug before letting her into his apartment and stepping out.

"I'm going to have a few words with your Papá in the hall, okay?"

"You got it!"

Wade blanches as Peter steps out, the door closing behind him. They stare at each other in the echoing silence before Peter shoves him.

"Wade Wilson, you complete _ass_ ," Peter says, throwing his arms around his boyfriend's neck. He took on a goofy drawl meant to mimic the merc. " _'I'll be back in a month, Webs, I promise.'_ "

"We've talked!" responds Wade, scandalized.

"I haven't seen you in a year and a half, you jerk."

"Fucking ice-pick in a dick, I've missed you," Wade says into his neck, winding his arms around the younger man's waist and pulling him into a tighter embrace. "I love you so much, Pete, you know that?"

"Wade, what happened?"

"I'm fine."

"You're crying."

"Maybe I'm just a sensitive guy."

"You are not."

"I got my dick pierced-"

_"What!?"_

"And you may have broken a rib, Hercules."

"Oh, shit, Wade, _fuck_ ," says Peter pulling away with wide eyes as he laid a hand on the taller man's side, punching him in the arm when the latter started laughing.

"Little Wade _is_ rocking new accessories though."

"Color me intrigued."

Wade slowly leans forward, his breath fanning against Peter's lips. He nips at them once before finally tucking in for the kiss. Their lips meet and its warm and safe and it feels so much like _home_ that they both want to break. He pulls away heartbroken.

"I'm sorry I wasn't here for you when May-"

"You couldn't have known, plus you answered when I called and that's all I needed. I just needed you."

"Well I'm here now, and I don't see myself ever leaving your side, okay? We're there for each other, right Webs? A package deal?"

"Right," Peter agrees softly, his smile hidden in the soft turtleneck collar of Wade's shirt. He feels his boyfriend shrug beneath his head.

"Then that means you're stuck with me, pal."

"Promise?" Peter asks and Wade kisses his cheek, his answer a whisper in the younger man's curly chesnut hair.

"Papá! Peter!" yelps Ellie, coming out to the hall and peeking around the door. "There's a spider at the window."

Peter steps into his apartment confused, Wade behind him. When he sees the black and red suit he grins. He turns around to face Ellie.

"Before I knew your Papá was back I was coming to take you to MoMA, remember?" asks Peter and she looks at him confused but nods. "This is my friend, he was going to come with us. Is that okay?"

"Is he a nice spider?" she asks and he ruffles her hair.

"Venom was nice... _nice-ish_. He's just hungry a lot and it makes him upset," Peter says defending one of the many other super friends he was trying to get her comfortable with that wasn't his immediate Avengers family . So far she only liked Matt Murdock and honestly, Peter can't really blame her. At the look she levels at him he snorts. "You know, your Papá isnt very nice either."

"Papá never tried to _eat_ me," she challenges and Peter has to agree. He sighs and motions for the other Spiderman to come in.

"This is my friend Miles," Peter says as the other boy slowly takes off his mask. "And he's even nicer than me."

"Hola, Ellie," Miles says with a big grin, "Pete's told me a lot about you. He says you love Spiderman. And you wanted to meet the one that spoke Spanish in front of your school." 

Her eyes are big and happy as she steps in front of Miles, full of that almost-10-year-old buzz, and starts asking him a series of rapid fire questions. As they continue to talk, Mile's having learned patience from years of tutoring kids in his neighborhood, Wade throws an arm over Peter's shoulders.

"I don't think anyone is nicer than you, Petey-Pie," Wade admits softly.

"I thought you were going to say sweeter," Peter says, cuddling into his boyfriend as they stood there, watching the two kids. Miles will be starting high school soon, Peter remembers and smiles again.

"I must confess, it was a near thing. I thought it would be a brilliant play on words, sadly, our dear author couldn't figure a way to make it work."

Peter nudges him with an elbow and he leans just enough to kiss his temple. Peter is focusing on not asking Wade a million questions about where he's been and if he's okay and if he's killed anyone even though he said he wouldn't and then he's chewing on his lip while spinning the promise ring on his finger absent-mindedly. Wade grips his hand and squeezes, pulling his attention out of his head, back into the real world.

"Calm down, Petey-Pie." He looks down at the shorter man as if he knows exactly what's going through his head, what's making him fidget like a child who's told to sit-and-stay in the candy aisle, and Wade smiles. "I'm fine. Okay? I was overseas and just got held up-"

"Held up," Peter says deadpan. "You've been gone a _year_ , Wade."

"Okay...so I got arrested."

"Papá had too many weapons in his bag," Ellie supplies before Peter can think to ask but _yeah, that makes sense_. He smacks his boyfriend across the back of his head and Wade groans before pointing at his daughter dramatically.

"You snitched. And who the- what the- _how do you even know that_?"

"Daddy told me," she says with a shrug. "It's not private information. It's on your public record."

"Stop talking to Terry about laws and regulations. Why don't you guys ever talk about unicorns or fairies!? You know what, just stop talking to Terry altogether, okay?"

"I have to know the laws, 'cause I wanna be a police officer. And we don't talk about that stuff 'cause unicorns aren't real," she explains with her head tilted. Peter knows that she looks like Wade, albeit a bit tanner and unscarred and with dark hair and darker eyes, but _that_ \- that look of sheer confusion as to why Wade doesn't understand, looks _exactly_ like him and Peter breaks into a fit of laughter even as Wade gasps loudly, a hand to his chest. He drops Peter's hand and moves over to lift Ellie and swing her around the room playfully.

"How dare you turn on me like this, El?!" Wade asks incredulously but he's smiling and Ellie is smiling so Peter knows it's all okay.

"You really love him, huh?" Miles says with an elbow to his side and Peter blushes as he watches Wade all strong and scarred and blindingly happy and grins back.

"Yeah," Peter whispers as if he's letting Miles in on a secret. "We're a package deal."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> finished it!!!
> 
> anyway this was supposed to be just a quick fic soooo no sequel, but it's not the last you've seen of spideypool from me
> 
> i swear on wade's life

**Author's Note:**

> im doing this as more of a mix of the spiderman/deadpool comics and the DP & MCU variations of those characters (cause they were my favorite iterations of the characters live action)
> 
> Deadpool isn't a pedo & he would never be, he knows what it feels like on the other side of unwanted or unwarranted affections
> 
> this is clarification that he just has a bit of a role model crush on Spiderman, cause he's out here risking his life in the streets and doing what's right because he just feel like it's the right thing to do not because he's getting paid like some of us *cough* DP *cough*
> 
> and if you haven't you should totally check out the comics, because that's how i ended up on this ship


End file.
